Police: Man stabbed family, himself, in suburban NY killings
PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. (AP) — Investigators believe a suburban New York man stabbed his wife, their two children and himself to death in their home, police said Friday as they worked to understand what prompted the bloodshed the day before.
There had been no reports of domestic violence involving Chuan-Kai "Tom" Liu, 46; his wife, Dorothy, 42, and their young children, Pleasantville Police Chief Erik Grutzner told reporters at a news conference.
“The only information we have about this family is that they are a wonderful and involved set of parents to two incredible, active and amazing children,” Grutzner said.
He said investigators were told Tom Liu “was under a considerable amount of stress," but the chief didn't elaborate.
The home is on a tree-lined street in Pleasantville, a village about 20 miles (32 km) north of Manhattan. Tennyson Liu, 7, was in elementary school; sister Adeline, 4, was in preschool.
Authorities discovered their deaths after school officials, concerned that the children were absent, asked for a check on the family's well-being.
“The kids were warm, loving, kind, caring, vibrant,” Schools Superintendent Mary Fox-Alter told the Journal News.
To Brian Skarstad, a former village trustee who lives a few doors down from the home, “If there was ever a happy family, seemingly, this was the happy family.”
Sheila Doherty remembered the Lius as neighbors in the apartment building where she lives in the Forest Hills section of Queens. The Lius moved to Pleasantville about three years ago.
“It seemed, on the outside, everything was good with them," Doherty told the Journal News. “They had beautiful children, moved up there, got a house, everything everyone dreams of."
“We never know why these things happen. What makes somebody do something like this?”