Twin girls, age 3, killed in VA murder-suicide

MECHANICSVILLE, Va. (WTVR) – The Hanover County Sheriff’s Office has released new information in the Hanover case where a father and his twin 3-year-old daughters were found dead in his home Saturday afternoon. The two twins suffered cuts to their necks, said spokesman Sergeant Chris Whitley, in a release.

Sgt. Whitley said that the father, Robert King, also hooked up his van to the home to send exhaust fumes into the house.

According to the Chief Medical Examiner, King and his daughters, Madison and Caroline, could have died from either the cuts or the carbon monoxide that built up in the home or a combination of both. 

The Hanover County Sheriff's Office is calling the deaths a murder-suicide.

According to a search warrant filed Monday in Hanover Circuit Court, the girl’s mother, Kristina, found her daughters and estranged husband’s body on Saturday, after calling the home several times. 

Upon arrival, police said she found the bodies in a front bedroom and tried to pick up one of her daughters, but placed her back down after realizing she was cold to the touch. 

Deputies observed her at the end of her driveway crying on her knees, and shouting “My babies are dead, they’re in the house!”

Close family friend, Nathan Cox, said the girls were born premature, but grew into healthy and happy three-year-olds.  He said they were inseparable and very close to their mother.

Cox said while the couple was going through a divorce and custody issues, there were no “red flags” to indicate King was planning to harm himself and his young daughters.

“You don’t take something from somebody that’s not yours,” said Cox.  “In this case, he took two lives that weren’t his.”

Read More...