Desperate times, desperate measures: Father kills family and then self. - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Cynthetiq · 10-07-2008, 04:59 PM

Quote:

View: Father kills family and himself, despondent over financial losses
Source: Latimes
posted with the TFP thread generator

Father kills family and himself, despondent over financial losses
Father kills family and himself, despondent over financial losses
Karthik Rajaram was found dead in his Porter Ranch home along with his wife, mother-in-law and 3 sons. Neighbors and coworkers say he was a loving father, but 'very intense' and at times unstable.
By Richard Winton, Evelyn Larrubia and Kimi Yoshino
Los Angeles Times Staff Writers

October 7, 2008

Karthik Rajaram had fallen hard.

The 45-year-old Porter Ranch financial manager who once made more than $1.2 million in a London-based venture fund had lost his job. His luck playing the stock market ran out.

On Sept. 16, he bought a gun. He wrote two suicide notes and a last will and testament. And then, sometime between Saturday night and Monday morning, he killed his wife, mother-in-law and three sons, and took his own life.

"This is a perfect American family behind me that has absolutely been destroyed, apparently because of a man who just got stuck in a rabbit hole, if you will, of absolute despair, somehow working his way into believing this to be an acceptable exit," said LAPD Deputy Chief Michel Moore. "It is critical to step up and recognize we are in some pretty troubled times."

In a letter addressed to police, Rajaram blamed his actions on economic hardships. A second letter, labeled "personal and confidential," was addressed to family friends; the third contained a last will and testament, Moore said.

The letter to police voiced two options: taking his own life, or killing himself and his entire family. "He talked himself into the second strategy," Moore said. "That that would be the honorable thing to do."

Authorities believe Rajaram killed his family and himself after seeing his finances wiped out by the stock market collapse, according to a source familiar with the case, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

Concern about the family's welfare began Monday morning when Rajaram's wife, 39-year-old Subasri, did not show up for her carpool. Friends went to the house in the 20600 block of Como Lane, only to find it strangely quiet. The morning newspaper lay in the frontyard. The family's two cars, a Suburban and a Lexus SUV, were parked in the driveway.

When police entered the home in the gated, Spanish-style community, they first found the gunman's mother-in-law, Indra Ramasesham, 69, dead in a downstairs bedroom. His wife and three sons -- Krishna, 19, a sophomore at UCLA majoring in business economics; Ganesha, 12; and Arjuna, 7, all named after Indian gods and warriors -- were discovered in various upstairs bedrooms, all shot in the head, some with multiple gunshot wounds.

Their father was found dead in a bedroom with Ganesha and Arjuna, the gun still in his hand, police said.

The Rajarams had lived in the upscale Sorrento neighborhood of Porter Ranch for a couple years in a 2,800-square-foot rented house. The landlords, another Indian couple, said that the family paid their rent on time and that there were no indications of trouble.

Neighbors in the Northridge neighborhood where the family previously lived said they were well-liked and enjoyed entertaining guests. Except for one night when residents heard a man screaming for hours, the family seemed content for the nine years they lived there.

"He loved those kids more than any man I've seen love his sons," said next-door neighbor Sue Karns.

But Karthik Rajaram, who held an MBA from UCLA, was a hard-driving businessman. He was involved in several financial ventures. Between his home sale and another lucrative investment, he should have had a pile of cash.

A 2001 article in The Daily Telegraph of London, under the headline "Bust, but big bucks for the big boys," called Rajaram a "winner" in a deal for NanoUniverse, a Los Angeles- and London-based venture fund taken public on the London Stock Exchange.

For a 12,500-pound investment, Rajaram, one of the company's founders, received 875,000 pounds -- or about $1.2 million in 2001 dollars -- after a voluntary liquidation, the newspaper reported.

He also sold his house in 2006, a calculated decision even though his wife, a bookkeeper at a pharmacy, did not want to move, their former neighbors said.

He sold the house for $750,000, making a sizable profit on a home the couple purchased in 1997 for $274,000.

"The market was going down and he wanted to get out before the bottom dropped out," Karns said. "I talked to him last December and he said, 'I feel I did a good thing by selling when I did.' "

It is unclear how Rajaram invested the cash since then and how he lost it.

In 2003 and 2004, he worked for Greg Robinson, an entrepreneur and founder of several companies, at Azur Partners LLC, a management consulting agency.

Robinson said he was forced to fire Rajaram because "his life wasn't moving in the right direction."

"He had some behavioral problems," Robinson said. "He wasn't reliable. . . . He was not an emotionally stable person. It was a real problem and would affect any business he was involved in."

The two had also worked together in the Century City office of PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Robinson recalled Rajaram as being "a very smart guy," who he believed posted a perfect score on his business school entrance exam.

Although Karns and her husband said they liked Karthik Rajaram and were stunned by the news, they said he was "very high-strung, very intense."

"The man was never relaxed," Sue Karns said.

In the Porter Ranch neighborhood, next-door neighbor Kinda Almukaddem said she had rarely spoken to the family since they moved in a couple of years ago. But in the last two weeks, Karthik Rajaram visited her twice asking whether she would be home this past weekend. He urged her to keep her side windows shut because he had heard of burglaries in the area.

Rajaram seemed nervous -- shaking, pacing and taking notes on a notepad as he spoke to her, she said.

"He noticed my side windows were open, the side that my house shares with him," she said. "Now, come to think of it, I think he was trying to have me close my windows on that side so I wouldn't hear anything."

Police said nobody reported hearing gunshots or anything out of the ordinary.

But on Monday, the neighborhood was far from normal, with police leading convoys of media into the gated community. Children at nearby Alfred B. Nobel Middle School, where 12-year-old Ganesha Rajaram was a seventh-grade honors student, were sent home with notes informing their parents of the news.

"This one will shake people to the core," Principal Robert Coburn said. "When you think about it, all kids have a mom and dad. And if a father can do this to his kids, it's very scary."

Quote:

View: Mansion arson inquiry: Christopher Foster murdered wife and daughter
Source: Telegraph
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Mansion arson inquiry: Christopher Foster murdered wife and daughter
Mansion arson inquiry: Christopher Foster murdered wife and daughter
The millionaire businessman Christopher Foster murdered his wife and daughter before setting fire to his mansion and killing himself in an hour-long burst of violence after seeing his company collapse.

Police said CCTV footage showed Mr Foster, 50, wielding a gun as he strode around the outbuildings of his £1.2 million property, Osbaston House, in the early hours of last Tuesday morning.

The film from his own security cameras also showed him driving a horsebox up to the mansion’s front gates, before getting out and shooting out the tyres to prevent the emergency services from accessing the property.

Detectives believe Mr Foster suffered a breakdown after his business failed with debts of £1.8 million, and decided to kill his family and raze their home to the ground to prevent it falling into the hands of creditors.

Investigators have now been able to piece together what happened after Mr Foster and his family returned to their home near Oswestry, Shropshire, shortly before 1am on August 26, after spending the evening at a friend’s barbecue, where they had appeared happy and relaxed.

The couple’s daughter, Kirstie, chatted to friends online until 1am, and she and Mrs Foster, 49, are thought to have gone to bed while the disturbed businessman remained awake brooding over the collapse of his firm, Ulva Ltd.

By around 4am he had shot his wife and daughter with a legally-owned .22 calibre rifle. He then shot the family’s three horses and four dogs, positioned the horsebox across the gates and sprayed petrol or a similar accelerant around the stables and outbuildings, setting fire to them before striding back to the main house with his gun in his hand.

After setting fire to the house, he is thought to have gone back to the body of his wife and shot himself at around 4.45am.

Neighbours dialed 999 at 4.50am after hearing his four luxury cars exploding in the garage as the fire took hold.

Det Supt Jon Groves, from West Mercia police, said yesterday that Mr Foster’s body - the first to be found last Friday along with that of his wife - had now been formally identified from dental records.

While they believe that the third body, found on Sunday, was the couple’s 15-year-old daughter Kirstie it has yet to be formally identified.

It is understood she was in her bedroom when she died.

Mr Groves discounted theories that the family was the target of gangsters by saying that officers were not looking for anyone else in connection with the blaze.

Crucial to the investigation, he said, was the substantial amount of CCTV footage taken from cameras placed around the house, which escaped the inferno.

Mr Foster may have deliberately left the tape running to record the fire, giving police hours of potential clues and evidence. The footage should allow officers to put together the chronology of events and it was suggested that at one stage Mr Foster may even have gesticulated at the cameras in defiance.

Mr Groves refused to say why he thought Mr Foster had killed his family, but it has been reported that bailiffs were due at the house hours after the fire, and that Mr Foster may have been expecting the house to be repossessed.

Friends suggested he may not have been able to cope with losing the house in Maesbrook and his luxury lifestyle.

Mr Groves said Mr Foster’s business dealings would play a major part in their investigation.

No suicide note or letter of explanation has been found although officers are talking to friends, family and business associates from the past and present in case he sent something in the post to them.

Mr Groves said they were also studying any surviving computers, emails and telephone records, while toxicology tests may show whether he was drunk or under the influence of drugs when he committed the murders.

Mr Groves said: “This is a very complex and unusual case and around 100 officers and staff have been working hard to establish the circumstances leading up to the fire.”

He said the crime scene that greeted fire crews and police was “particularly difficult”, adding: “We’ve carried out painstaking work. It’s not pleasant work”.

Brendan Wignall, head of Ellesmere College, where Kirstie was a pupil, said she had “all the skills needed to go far in life” and was a “lovely girl, very bright and very popular”.

I remember in the 70s the images and cartoons about investors from the 30's jumping out of windows so that they can leave their families with life insurance payouts. It is a bit distressing to think of, but desperate times, desperate measures.

There was a movie when I was kid Skip Tracer in 1977 about a collector who collected well, until he came across a family who was killed by the father all because the debt pressures were too high and the future so bleak.

I think the media will sensationalize such things. I'm sure we'll see a rise in this kind of homicide, maybe they'll even create a new buzz word for it.

shame really, it really is a shame.

Do you think that we'll see more of these kinds of things?

Jozrael · 10-07-2008, 05:08 PM

. Not really much to say about this without politicizing it.

skizziks · 10-07-2008, 07:59 PM

I don't think there will be much more of this. One thing is feeling so desperate you kill yourself, but to kill your family and then yourself is just batshit crazy, it takes something more than desperation to kill others.

I can only assume if it wasn't this, something else eventually would have pushed him over the edge.

mixedsubstance · 10-07-2008, 08:22 PM

I'd only be repeating myself if I were to say what I did in the "90-yr-old killed herself" thread, but to add on- the economy is just affecting people in such an extreme way- and I don't think it's going to get better anytime soon. It's sickening that people get into such a state of mind like this guy or that old woman did. My family & I feared my brother was stooping to that level after being unemployed for over a year...but finally a blessing came along. He plugged away, we supported and prayed for him and he finally got a job he loves, though it's still tough for his family trying to pay rent and bills and take care of their kids- they are still having to take a step backward and are trying to sell their house and rent for a while- it's become that bad. Yes, things suck right now, and they may get worse- but there's always a way out. It will just take time and a little struggle. I have my story- but that's in the other thread.

Charlatan · 10-07-2008, 09:15 PM

There were stories of this sort of thing during the crash in the 20s and, to a lesser extent, on Black Monday in 1987.

Desperate people sometimes do desperate things.

We will see more of this types of items but I suspect that they will be a statistical blip when it comes to homicide numbers.

little_tippler · 10-08-2008, 12:11 AM

I think a person killing themselves in desperation is one thing. A person killing their family first and then themselves, is a selfish act, even if it is also batshit crazy. I can't understand the reasoning behind it and it makes me sad to think of these men's families.

I hope we don't see more of this. It's awful. But it makes sense that more people out there will get affected by the current financial crisis and they may see no other way out of their particular downfall except to kill themselves. If they must, I just hope they don't get trigger happy and kill their families too.

I think life can always go on, even after something like losing all your material possessions. If you have your health and your mind, there is always a way to get back up and continue living, despite the hardships. In the grief of losing everything you own, I'm sure it's hard to see that.

Skutch · 10-08-2008, 05:42 AM

I'd be distraught too if I had built up so much just to have it all taken away. Desperation would certainly figure into it I would imagine. When I go, I would like to be in a position of being able to choose where and what happens to everything Ive worked for my entire life. This could have been the thrid or fourth time the guy has been through bankruptcy and just couldn't handle going through it again or faced with the possibility of his wife leaving him for a richer man or other such indignities. It was selfish but understandable.

mixedsubstance · 10-08-2008, 10:42 AM

I agree, tippler- that life can go on, no matter what. It's about mindset and determination, love, hope, and not about material posessions or money. It can always come back. Some people just give up so easily. Take homeless people, for instance. I really don't feel sorry for them- there's plenty of opportunities to get back on their feet- plenty of job placement offices who help the homeless, and housing assistance. But they simply gave up- they feel they've failed and are not accepted by society anymore, therefore most likely leaning toward drugs to have some sort of release and escape.

Aside from that, you have to imagine what someone like this man was thinking. He came to the point in his life where one moment he had everything- the next thing he knew, the rug was pulled out right under his feet. He looks as though he was a man who came to this country for opportunity- freedom- and success. And all of that he felt he lost within a blink of an eye. So what do you think his first thought was- that he held onto and let build up inside of him and basically brainwash himself with? That he was a failure. That he feared that all he had- all he'd done for his family- was already gone. That his family would become miserable and suffer- with or without him. He took them with so that they could all be together in peace and they wouldn't have to be in misery. That was most likely his mindset. He couldn't see past the dark clouds. It's hard to understand and accept the actions of what one has done, but in order to do so, you have to put yourself in their position. Yes, it was a very unhealthy and irrational move- but unfortunately not everyone can see the light at the end of the tunnel...it's truly sad and sickening.

There's a man on tv right now talking about his worries about finances and economy. He just admitted he has not talked to his wife or kids about his worries. THAT is the first mistake, and the first step to going downhill. Talking about your feelings and worries- to anyone, even a counselor at first- will help block, or at least somewhat dillute the negative voices in your head.

genuinegirly · 10-08-2008, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mixedsubstance

There's a man on tv right now talking about his worries about finances and economy. He just admitted he has not talked to his wife or kids about his worries. THAT is the first mistake, and the first step to going downhill. Talking about your feelings and worries- to anyone, even a counselor at first- will help block, or at least somewhat dillute the negative voices in your head.

I picture the conversation going one of two ways:

Husband says, "We've lost everything."
Wife says, "That's ok, we'll make it through this."

or

Husband says, "We've lost everything."
Wife says, "Time for a divorce."

Either way, a life was saved. The first scenario, the wife saves the husband's life. The second scenario, the wife will make it out alive and the husband will likely kill himself anyway.

I am not a fan of extreme action. The fact that the media only has one man to report on is a good thing, right? There aren't 50 people doing the same thing every week yet. Maybe we're better off than we realize. Or maybe it just hasn't hit the majority yet.

The Faba · 10-09-2008, 10:49 AM

I don't see the wife surviving in all of the second scenario cases...

10-07-2008, 08:22 PM	#4 (permalink)
mixedsubstance Crazy Location: Where the wild things are.	I'd only be repeating myself if I were to say what I did in the "90-yr-old killed herself" thread, but to add on- the economy is just affecting people in such an extreme way- and I don't think it's going to get better anytime soon. It's sickening that people get into such a state of mind like this guy or that old woman did. My family & I feared my brother was stooping to that level after being unemployed for over a year...but finally a blessing came along. He plugged away, we supported and prayed for him and he finally got a job he loves, though it's still tough for his family trying to pay rent and bills and take care of their kids- they are still having to take a step backward and are trying to sell their house and rent for a while- it's become that bad. Yes, things suck right now, and they may get worse- but there's always a way out. It will just take time and a little struggle. I have my story- but that's in the other thread. __________________ Well, isn't that just kick-you-in-the-crotch, spit-on-your-neck fantastic?!? Without energy, there would be nothing. Last edited by mixedsubstance; 10-07-2008 at 08:25 PM..

10-07-2008, 09:15 PM	#5 (permalink)
Charlatan Getting it. Super Moderator Location: Lion City	There were stories of this sort of thing during the crash in the 20s and, to a lesser extent, on Black Monday in 1987. Desperate people sometimes do desperate things. We will see more of this types of items but I suspect that they will be a statistical blip when it comes to homicide numbers. __________________ "My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars." - Old Man Luedecke

10-08-2008, 12:11 AM	#6 (permalink)
little_tippler Leaning against the -Sun- Super Moderator Location: on the other side	I think a person killing themselves in desperation is one thing. A person killing their family first and then themselves, is a selfish act, even if it is also batshit crazy. I can't understand the reasoning behind it and it makes me sad to think of these men's families. I hope we don't see more of this. It's awful. But it makes sense that more people out there will get affected by the current financial crisis and they may see no other way out of their particular downfall except to kill themselves. If they must, I just hope they don't get trigger happy and kill their families too. I think life can always go on, even after something like losing all your material possessions. If you have your health and your mind, there is always a way to get back up and continue living, despite the hardships. In the grief of losing everything you own, I'm sure it's hard to see that. __________________ Whether we write or speak or do but look We are ever unapparent. What we are Cannot be transfused into word or book. Our soul from us is infinitely far. However much we give our thoughts the will To be our soul and gesture it abroad, Our hearts are incommunicable still. In what we show ourselves we are ignored. The abyss from soul to soul cannot be bridged By any skill of thought or trick of seeming. Unto our very selves we are abridged When we would utter to our thought our being. We are our dreams of ourselves, souls by gleams, And each to each other dreams of others' dreams. Fernando Pessoa, 1918

10-08-2008, 10:42 AM	#8 (permalink)
mixedsubstance Crazy Location: Where the wild things are.	I agree, tippler- that life can go on, no matter what. It's about mindset and determination, love, hope, and not about material posessions or money. It can always come back. Some people just give up so easily. Take homeless people, for instance. I really don't feel sorry for them- there's plenty of opportunities to get back on their feet- plenty of job placement offices who help the homeless, and housing assistance. But they simply gave up- they feel they've failed and are not accepted by society anymore, therefore most likely leaning toward drugs to have some sort of release and escape. Aside from that, you have to imagine what someone like this man was thinking. He came to the point in his life where one moment he had everything- the next thing he knew, the rug was pulled out right under his feet. He looks as though he was a man who came to this country for opportunity- freedom- and success. And all of that he felt he lost within a blink of an eye. So what do you think his first thought was- that he held onto and let build up inside of him and basically brainwash himself with? That he was a failure. That he feared that all he had- all he'd done for his family- was already gone. That his family would become miserable and suffer- with or without him. He took them with so that they could all be together in peace and they wouldn't have to be in misery. That was most likely his mindset. He couldn't see past the dark clouds. It's hard to understand and accept the actions of what one has done, but in order to do so, you have to put yourself in their position. Yes, it was a very unhealthy and irrational move- but unfortunately not everyone can see the light at the end of the tunnel...it's truly sad and sickening. There's a man on tv right now talking about his worries about finances and economy. He just admitted he has not talked to his wife or kids about his worries. THAT is the first mistake, and the first step to going downhill. Talking about your feelings and worries- to anyone, even a counselor at first- will help block, or at least somewhat dillute the negative voices in your head. __________________ Well, isn't that just kick-you-in-the-crotch, spit-on-your-neck fantastic?!? Without energy, there would be nothing. Last edited by mixedsubstance; 10-08-2008 at 10:49 AM..

10-07-2008, 05:08 PM	#2 (permalink)
Jozrael Junkie	. Not really much to say about this without politicizing it.

10-07-2008, 07:59 PM	#3 (permalink)
skizziks Insane Location: out west	I don't think there will be much more of this. One thing is feeling so desperate you kill yourself, but to kill your family and then yourself is just batshit crazy, it takes something more than desperation to kill others. I can only assume if it wasn't this, something else eventually would have pushed him over the edge.

10-08-2008, 05:42 AM	#7 (permalink)
Skutch Crazy	I'd be distraught too if I had built up so much just to have it all taken away. Desperation would certainly figure into it I would imagine. When I go, I would like to be in a position of being able to choose where and what happens to everything Ive worked for my entire life. This could have been the thrid or fourth time the guy has been through bankruptcy and just couldn't handle going through it again or faced with the possibility of his wife leaving him for a richer man or other such indignities. It was selfish but understandable.

10-09-2008, 10:49 AM	#10 (permalink)
The Faba Crazy	I don't see the wife surviving in all of the second scenario cases...