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| Frederick County Sheriff's deputies stand guard outside a house in Middletown, Md. on Saturday, April 18, 2009 where five bodies were found. |
MIDDLETOWN, Md. (AP) -- A sheriff in northwest Maryland says a wife and three children killed in an apparent murder-suicide had gunshot wounds in addition to traumatic cuts.
Frederick County Sheriff Charles Jenkins says Francis Billotti Wood, her two sons and daughter each suffered at least one gunshot wound from a handgun.
Jenkins says the father, Christopher Alan Wood, died from a self-inflicted shotgun blast.
Jenkins also says Christopher Wood wrote five notes to family members and in one note said he was sorry.
Jenkins says Christopher Wood was employed but that there was some evidence of financial troubles and psychiatric problems.
Francis Wood's father found the bloody scene at the home Saturday morning.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
MIDDLETOWN, Md. (AP) - A father killed his wife and their three children before fatally shooting himself in a northwest Maryland home, leaving a gruesome scene that was discovered Saturday by the youngsters' grandfather, authorities said.
When investigators arrived, the couple's two sons, ages 5 and 4, lay dead in their beds, while the bodies of a 2-year-old daughter and the mother, Francis Billotti Wood, were in the master bedroom of the two-story home, Frederick County sheriff's office spokeswoman Jennifer Bailey said. On the master bedroom floor by the foot of the bed was the father, 34-year-old Christopher Alan Wood, dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Bailey said.
The 33-year-old mother and three children suffered "traumatic cuts," Bailey said, but the causes of their deaths weren't immediately confirmed.
The woman's father found them dead around 9 a.m. He had grown concerned after not hearing from them for several days, Bailey said.
Investigators also found a shotgun and other items they believed were used to slash the victims. Several notes were found, but authorities didn't say what was written in them.
Neighbor Peggy Lawrence said the family had moved several months ago to the home in the town of Middletown, a community of less than 3,000 people about 10 miles west of Frederick. Lawrence described Francis Wood as a good homemaker and said she had grown up in the area.
"It wouldn't lead you to believe anything was wrong," Lawrence said. "I'm still sick to my stomach. Just to see it end so quickly is so devastating and makes you realize you never know what's going on in people's lives."
