San Mateo Police probing the death of a Malayali family in the US have confirmed that it was a case of murder-suicide and the incident occurred sometime on Saturday afternoon. The police investigation has revealed that Alice Benziger succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds and Anand Henry suffered from a single shot. The police have also identified Anand Henry as the main suspect, indicating that Anand killed his wife with multiple gun shots and then shot himself. The police said that the kids did not die from gunfire or show signs of bodily trauma. The investigation into the motive is underway.
"The cause of death for the children has not been confirmed as we are waiting on pathology," Jeanine Luna, Community Relations Officer, San Mateo Police Department told Onmanorama. The kids may have been poisoned, it is learnt. A 9mm handgun was recovered from the scene and it was legally registered to Anand Henry. This was located on the bathroom floor where the bodies of Anand and Alice were found.
"Both Henry and Benziger succumbed to gunshot wounds and based on the shared investigation to date between the San Mateo Police Department, the San Mateo County Crime Lab, and the San Mateo County Coroner’s Office, Anand Henry has been identified as the suspect,” a release issued by the police said.
The police said that the adults’ identities have been confirmed via fingerprints and the boys have been identified via familial visual identification.
The cops also ruled out any history of violence at the home. "Outside of the context of this incident, the San Mateo Police Department has only responded to the home since 2020 on reports of a mountain lion in the yard. After being unable to get a hold of the family over the course of the weekend, our department was contacted. It is estimated this incident occurred sometime Saturday afternoon (2/10/24). Our investigation into the motive for this tragedy continues," police said.
Jeanine Luna said that a welfare check is a very regular procedure, and they are done for a number of reasons. Some examples are newspapers piling up on the front porch, a friend or family member hasn’t heard from someone in quite some time, perhaps an elderly person has fallen, neighbors haven’t seen a neighbor in a bit, there is some unknown noise or smell emanating from a residence, there maybe a mental health issue, a child may not want to go to school, etc.