Dad murders wife, 2 kids (Columbus Township, Michigan)

Dad PHILLIP PARSON murdered his wife and two kids, then took himself out. As is typical in these articles, the usual gaggle of idiots is quoted. The family members were "great people"? Does that include Dad, who gunned down his own son from a previous marriage in his own bedroom? That's not a "great" person in my book. Dad was "good with the kids"? More of the same. Pure crap.

http://www.wxyz.com/news/story/SHERIFF-Man-Kills-Wife-2-Kids-then-Himself/qarNnBrCBkGMoXyBcPLueg.cspx

SHERIFF: Man Kills Wife, 2 Kids then Himself

Last Update: 11/17 9:39 am

Four Dead in Family Murder-Suicide
Father Kills Family and Himself
Family Found Dead in Columbus Township

COLUMBUS TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) - If Phillip Parsons was having financial or other troubles, he didn't let on to his friend, Russ Whittaker, as they cut trees or talked about high school sports.

"Great people. Great people," Whittaker said Monday, shaking his head at the news that Parsons and his family had been found dead just a stone's throw across Short Road.

St. Clair County Sheriff Tim Donnellon said Monday the deaths are being investigated as three murders and a suicide. Parsons, 35, an out-of-work truck driver, was found dead on his bedroom floor with a single gunshot to his head. His wife, Gina Parsons, 34, was shot multiple times and found in the couple's bed. Parson's son, Sean, and his wife's son, Andrew Davis, were each shot once and found in their bedrooms.

The boys, both 14-year-old high school freshmen, were stepbrothers from the couple's previous marriages.

"Whether they were asleep or not is unknown at this time," Donnellon said, adding there were no signs of struggle.

A relative concerned about the family called 911 about 8 p.m. Sunday, the sheriff said. Investigators believe the shootings took place late Saturday night or early the next morning in the mostly rural community of Columbus Township in St. Clair County.

Whittaker said he and Phillip Parsons often shared tools and last spoke about two weeks ago.

"The two boys were outside playing baseball Saturday," Whittaker said. "They played sports, football in school. Phil always talked about how good they were."

Whittaker stuck his large hands inside his pockets and stared at the gravel beneath his work boots.

"Not them boys. Not them boys," he said softly. "They were too young."

Administrators and counselors at St. Clair High School posted a letter to parents on the school's Web site Monday.

"These young people were solid students, excellent citizens, and active members of the student-body," they wrote. "They will be missed by their family, friends, classmates and school community."

Matthew Davis described his son, Andrew, as a "great kid" who persevered through his parents' difficult divorce about four years ago.

"Even through the divorce, he got straight A's and B's," said Matthew Davis, 36. "We split custody. I had him every weekend and a week for hunting. He was like my little best friend. We did everything together."

Andrew was supposed to spend the weekend deer hunting with his father, but wanted to stay close to home for hockey practice after recently making his school's team.

"He didn't want to miss all that," Davis said.

He said Phillip Parsons had been a friend, someone he knew three years before Parsons married his ex-wife.

"People can say what they want, but he was good with the kids. For him to do that was baffling," Davis said of the shootings.

As news of the deaths spread through the community of nearly 4,700 people, a number of neighbors drove by the Parsons' well-kept home.

Phillip Parsons had been without a job for a few years, but his wife ran a business from home, brokering freight for commercial trucks, Donnellon said.

The family had lived in the house a little more than a year, and there had been no previous police calls for trouble there, he said.

Another teenager, believed by neighbors to be Sean's older brother, occasionally visited but didn't live in the home. Donnellon would not name the relative who called 911 but said he didn't live with the family.

A large-caliber handgun registered to Phillip Parsons was used in the shootings, and investigators were looking into his background, Donnellon said.

Neighbor Betty Papiernik was outside smoking a cigarette when she heard shots coming from the direction of the Parsons' home. The 63-year-old has lived on Short Road for about 22 years, before many neighboring homes were built.

"There was gunfire over there between seven and eight Saturday night," she said. "There's a hunt club that way, but those shots were closer than the hunt club."

The sound of gunfire didn't faze her. Many people in the area hunt, and the nearby woods and fields still have enough deer, pheasants and rabbits for sport. Regular firearm season for deer opened Sunday in Michigan.

"Almost every night, you hear gunshots. Everybody has a gun," Papiernik said.