03 January 2024 , 10:43
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A family of three found dead at their $5million (£4million) mansion was the result of a tragic murder-suicide, according to authorities.
Rakesh Kamal, 57, his wife Teena, 54, and daughter Arianna, 18, were discovered by a relative on Thursday in Massachusetts after husband Rakesh was found to have fatally shot his wife and daughter before killing himself.
Norfolk District Attorney's Office said the gun he used wasn't registered to him and he didn't have a licence to own it. The determination was based on an early autopsy conducted on the family. The final autopsy report was expected to take weeks to complete.
The couple's daughter, a first-year student studying neuroscience at Middlebury College in Vermont, was home for Christmas at the time of her tragic murder.
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Teena Kamal, 54, Rakesh Kamal, 57 and their daughter Ariana were discovered in their home (Blogwithmom.com)Testing on the weapon is underway but it appears Rakesh used a 40-caliber Glock 22 but it remains unclear where the gun was purchased from. The motive behind the killings hasn't been announced apart from it being a murder-suicide. However, according to reports, the family was facing financial troubles.
The Kamals bought a huge 19,000-square-foot mansion with 11 bedrooms and 13 bathrooms for $5m in 2019. But the purchase left them struggling with money, and the house was sold for just $3 million (£2.3m) to Wilsondale Associates after it went into foreclosure last year.
Rakesh Kamal shot dead his family (RickKamal/X)
Teena was tragically killed by her husband (RedCross.org)The married couple ran an education systems company called Edunova until it closed in December 2021. Teena also served on the board of directors for the American Red Cross of Massachusetts and had a career spanning over 30 years in education and technology. Her daughter Ariana was studying neuroscience at Middlebury College, which costs $64,800 (£50,00) per year.
Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey previously described their deaths as a “domestic violence situation” and said there was no evidence of any outside involvement as the gun was found next to the husband's body. "There was no sign of any kind of a break-in," he said, adding, "I’m led to believe that it's safe to tell you it's probably a domestic issue incident."
Cops were called to the mansion after relatives became didn't hear from the family (Boston Globe via Getty Images)"It’s such a tragedy and each time we hear about a homicide and a homicide followed by a suicide, our hearts just go out to this entire community and all of their loved ones impacted,” Hema Sarang-Sieminski, the deputy director of Jane Doe Inc., a group specialising in domestic abuse and safety told NBC.
"Around holidays certainly as families come together, tensions rise, there certainly can be these kinds of trends that we see," she says. "In Massachusetts, there have been I believe now up to four homicides in the month of December related to domestic violence.”
The domestic charity campaigner said people should look out for signs of abuse of power and control in relationships. “Certainly it can feel that it happens behind closed doors but more often than not, when we talk about domestic abuse, there is often this sense of it only happening within the home, but we are all part of larger communities,” she said.