Apr 23, 2009 12:39 pm US/Eastern
Police: Man Killed Wife & Daughters In Hotel
TOWSON, Md. (WJZ/AP) ―
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Police say William Parente killed his wife and daughters, and then killed himself.
CBS
Police say a New York man killed his wife and two daughters in a Towson hotel room and then committed suicide.
Sally Thorner has the latest in the case and why the FBI is involved.
With a turn of the door knob, cleaning staff at the Sheraton Hotel in Towson opened the door to a guest room Monday and found four dead.
They were identified as William Parente, 59, his wife Betty, 58, and their daughters Stephanie, 19, and Catherine Parente, 11, of Garden City, N.Y.
Stephanie was a sophomore at Loyola College studying speech pathology and a member of the school's crew team. William, her father, was a lawyer.
Police say William and Betty had breakfast with Catherine Sunday morning. Police believe the murders happened shortly after.
"It's believed at this point that the mother may have been killed first, then the 11-year-old, then Stephanie later that day," said Cpl. Mike Hill, Baltimore County Police spokesperson.
Police say all died from blunt force trauma and asphyxiation. The mother and daughters were found on a bed in the hotel room.
Officials say investigators were unable to conclude if there was a struggle or whether objects found in the room were used in the killings or another object was used and later disposed of.
"We continue to interview family, friends, work associates to try to determine a motive and circumstance behind these violent acts," said Chief Jim Johnson, Baltimore County Police.
Johnson also said William answered a phone call from Stephanie's roommate to the hotel room around midnight, after his wife and daughters are believed to have been killed.
Police say William then cut himself in the bathroom and died.
No suicide note was left, but the FBI has confirmed that it's investigating William Parente.
In New York, the state attorney general's office said it had just received a complaint from a man who says he invested hundreds of thousands of dollars with William M. Parente and had trouble getting his money back. Spokesman Alex Detrick said the complaint was received Tuesday afternoon, and investigators had yet to determine whether to start an investigation.
Bruce Montague, 47, a Queens lawyer, told Newsday that he recently received six checks worth about $450,000 from Parente.
Montague said that Parente told him that he could deposit two of the checks, but asked him to wait with the others. Montague said a bank official told him the four others would not clear.
Loyola College's president says the campus is in mourning.
"A huge amount of grief," said Father Brian Linnane. "My reaction was shock and disbelief at how horrific this was. It's very difficult to make any sense of it at all because it's really senseless. It really is an experience of evil in the world."
Stephanie missed a chemistry test on Monday. That's when her roommates and professor knew something wasn't right. They called school administrators who contacted the hotel.
"My understanding is that they normally did come here occasionally to visit with her," said Hill. "I can only make an assumption at this point that was what they were doing here over the weekend."
Workers discovered the dead on the 10th floor of the Sheraton Monday after the family didn't check out.
"I can't tell you how heartsick I am," said Mary Opulente Krener, a neighbor to the Parente family. "This is the most wonderful family, the most kind and loving family. I'm astounded."
"I think the answer is to reach out to the mental and emotional health community that have a very robust safety net to deal with such problems. Reach out to the police. Reach out to family, the faith-based community, the health departments that exist to deal with these human crises," said Johnson.
Police still are investigating a motive.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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