California: An Indian-origin techie is suspected of killing his wife and four-year-old twins before turning the gun on himself in a gruesome murder-suicide in California, police said. The statement comes days after Anand Sujith Henry, 42, his wife Alice Priyanka, 40, and their twin sons Noah and Neithan were found dead at their $2.1 million home in California's San Mateo.
The couple was found dead with gunshot wounds inside a bathroom when cops visited the house for a welfare check. The children were discovered dead in a bedroom.
"At this time, next of kin have been notified and we can now confirm the identities as Anand Henry (father), Alice Priyanka (mother), and their minor twin boys. A 9mm handgun legally registered to Anand was located on the bathroom floor where both adults' bodies were located," the San Mateo Police Department said in a statement.
Police allege that Anand, a former Meta employee, was responsible for all four deaths. "Both Anand and Alice succumbed to gunshot wounds and based on the investigation, Anand has been identified as the suspect," the police department said.
"Our investigation shows Alice succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds, while Anand suffered from a single shot. The cause of death for the minor boys is still pending pathology, but we can confirm they did not die from gunfire or show signs of bodily trauma," officials added.
The family, originally from Kerala, had been living in the US for the past nine years. While Anand was a software engineer, Alice was a senior analyst. According to court records, Anand had filed for divorce in 2016 but did not go through with it.
Authorities said there was no history of violence at the home and the one instance when cops had been called in the past was when the family spotted a mountain lion in their backyard.
But when people who knew the family could not get in contact with them over the weekend, police responded to the scene to do a welfare check. The motive behind the murder-suicide is still unknown.