Distraught Father Kills Wife, 5 Kids

PrintShareText SizeAAALOS ANGELES (Jan. 28) - In one upstairs bedroom, the bodies of twin 2-year-old boys were found beside their dead mother. In another bedroom, 5-year-old twin girls and their 8-year-old sister lay next to their lifeless father.

Officers discovered the horrific scene after rushing to a home in Wilmington, prompted by the father's distraught letter faxed to a TV station describing a "tragic story" and a call to authorities.


A man apparently distraught because he and his wife had lost their jobs killed his spouse and five young children before committing suicide in the family's suburban Los Angeles home Tuesday. Police said Ervin Lupoe, pictured above with his family, even faxed a letter to a local television station in which he explained "why we are dead."

Police believe Ervin Lupoe, 40, killed his five children and his wife before turning the gun on himself. Both adults were recently fired from their hospital jobs.
"Why leave our children in someone else's hands?" Lupoe wrote in his letter faxed to KABC-TV. The station posted the letter on its Web site with some parts redacted.
The station called police after receiving the fax, and a police dispatch center also received a phone call from a man who stated, "I just returned home and my whole family's been shot." Police are unsure who the male caller was, but they suspect it was the father.
Officers rushed to the home in Wilmington, a small community between the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday and found the bodies.
All the victims were shot in the head, some multiple times, coroner's Assistant Chief Ed Winter said. The killings may have occurred between Monday evening and early Tuesday, based on neighbors' accounts of firecracker sounds, he said.
Although the fax addressed to "whom it may concern" and explaining "why we are dead" asserted that the wife, Ana Lupoe, planned the killings of the whole family, police Lt. John Romero said Ervin Lupoe was the suspect. A revolver was found next to his body.
It was the fifth mass death of a Southern California family by murder or suicide in a year. Police urged those facing tough economic times to get help rather than resort to violence.

Embedded video from CNN Video

"Today our worst fear was realized," said Deputy Chief Kenneth Garner. "It's just not a solution. There's just so many ways you find alternatives to doing something so horrific and drastic as this."
Ervin Lupoe removed three of the children from school about a week and a half ago, saying the family was moving to Kansas, the principal told KCAL-TV. Crescent Heights Elementary School Principal Cherise Pounders-Caver said nothing seemed to be troubling Ervin Lupoe, and she did not ask why the family was moving.

Kaiser Permanente Medical Center West Los Angeles released a statement confirming Lupoe and his wife were fired as medical technicians more than a week ago. The hospital said the firings followed an internal investigation but would not specify why they lost their jobs.
The letter indicated that Lupoe and his wife both 40 had been investigated for misrepresenting their employment to an outside agency to obtain childcare. He claimed that an administrator told the couple on Dec. 23: "You should not even had bothered to come to work today you should have blown your brains out."


Lupoe's letter said the couple complained to the human resources department and eventually were offered an apology but two days later they were fired.
"They did nothing to the manager who stated such and did not attempt to assist us in the matter, knowing we have no job and five children under 8 years with no place to go. So here we are," the note said.
At the bottom of the letter, Lupoe wrote, "Oh lord, my God, is there no hope for a widow's son?" The phrase is frequently found in Internet discussions about the novel "The Da Vinci Code," Freemasons and Mormonism.

Kaiser Permanente said staff was "saddened by the despair" in Lupoe's letter "but we are confident that no one told him to take his own life or the lives of his family."
Lupoe's fax identified his children as Brittney, 8; 5-year-old twins Jaszmin and Jassely; and twins Benjamin and Christian, ages 2 years and 4 months. Winter confirmed the identities of the girls, but the boys' names were pending.
Lupoe got a state license to work as a security guard in 1989 and a permit to carry a gun as a security guard in 1993 but both expired in 2007, said Russ Heimerich, a spokesman for the state Bureau of Security and Investigative Services.
Bob Pierce, a Long Beach attorney who represented the Lupoes in an auto accident, said the case did not involve any serious injuries and the family was expected to receive "well below $10,000," he said.
Lupoe called Monday to find out when the money might be coming, Pierce said. Pierce told him that it might be another week or two "and he said 'no problem.'"

To Amanda Garcia, everything seemed normal in the Lupoe house next door. Her neighbors always had a friendly wave and their five young children would play outside.

"They were happy, they had birthday parties," the 22-year-old Garcia said as she choked back tears near her home. "The kids were always outside on bikes, riding on their wagon."

life is tough and it will get even tougher becaus eof the global economic depression but killing or cmmitting suicide is not the solution.
what a sad story.

this is a sad sad story but it is a reality right now. people are reaching the bottom of the hole and cant cope with drastic and desparate changes. i read this earlier and i was really saddened and shocked. i am at a lost for words right now.

It might seem that happiness is in short supply these days.
Still-slumping housing prices, bleak consumer spending, high unemployment and a recession are just a few of the official indicators that point to a depressed economy. it has been found that more Americans said they were "struggling" rather than "thriving."

naku.... where is happiness nowadays?

Even if people are more optimistic than circumstances warrant, achieving happiness is a delicate state of being that takes work to cultivate, especially in hard times like these.

Maintaining that balance may be difficult, but it is far from impossible. Recent research on the subject has shown that happiness may come easier to those who are surrounded by joyful friends, family and acquaintances. There are also long-established strategies, like practicing gratitude and developing coping mechanisms, that promise to help even the most cynical to cheer up.


so lets be surrounded with good friends and family to be happy..

some results of surveys:

older adults are happier than younger adults
(ganun? lol!)



Republicans are happier than Democrats



women are happier than men.


the quality of your immediate and extended network of friends and family can make a significant difference in your sense of wellbeing. But achieving happiness also depends on how you spend your time...

The promises of God are Yes!
Sometimes I have trouble believing his promises include me, but they do. I agree with mentally, I know God is Able, I know he is a Savior but can I fully and completely trust him for my life? What do I do when my mind staggers on the promise? I continue to meditate on the Word. I reflect on the promises. I think about how God has been in my life before and continues to be in my life now. I recall the blessings of the Lord. I remember the abundance that is possible. I know he has saved me, blessed me and continues to bless me. Trust Him. When I think about all that God has done for me and others in my life I dont find it hard to believe again. I can be a living example of Love. Don't ever take that for granted. Rejoice in the Lord when others have things go right in their lives. Teach me to talk in love to be patient and tender. Let me meditate on that vision of God's Promise in my life. Let me have a picture in my mind's eye. Let me keep concrete visions so that some day actually becomes one day and this day. Today I focus on God's promise being reality in my life, it will happen. God keeps His promise. I believe that. I trust Him to want to keep his promise to me. I am important, special and loved. I am the apple of his eye. God loves me. Be blessed today and be a blessing of love to someone.

it has also been found out that watching television can be enjoyable.. but doing it too often may lead to long-term dissatisfaction.

naku...

controlled with other factors.....unhappy people watch over 30% more TV per day than very happy people, according to the study.

good thing i dont watch tv that much.. news lang and banyera before.. hahahaha!!

Not only do happy people watch less TV, they also spend more time socializing with relatives and friends, attending church, reading the newspaper, working and even having sex.


hmmmmmmm...

so it has been recommended to turn off your tv in favor of something more engaging.........



i cant!!!!!! lalo na pag sina tj and tin na!!!!

happiness can be largely genetic - by 50% while the remainder is circumstancial by 10% and intentional by 40%.
so yung 40% daw should be capitalized by using strategies to cope the unknown....

ang dami kong natutunan today.. hehehe.. kaya pala if you are born in a happy family, most likely you are also a happy person kasi its transmitted through genes pala. circumstances cant be avoided but intentional can be cope up with..

try to avoid excessive ruminating..

it can impede concentration and diminishes a person's ability to solve problems....


practice gratitude instead...

be thankful with the things you have!!

so true!