Russell Smith: Utah Man Allegedly Kills Wife, Two Kids In Murder-Suicide
A Utah resident and father of two allegedly killed himself, his wife, and the couple’s two kids inside of their Utah home on Sunday.
Daily Mail reports that the body of 29-year-old Russell Smith was found inside of the home, along with the bodies of his wife, 26-year-old Shawna, and their two children, 6-year-old Tylee and 2-year-old Blake.
Husband ‘kills his wife and two young kids’ in apparent murder-suicide http://t.co/y99RUFoDAI via @MailOnline Extremely sad!
— Sg (@LookoutPt) June 22, 2015
According to the report, the Roy City Police Department responded to a 911 call referencing an alleged assault at the family’s home on Sunday night at 10 p.m.
The call was made by a relative that decided to stop by the couple’s house to check on them. The relative reportedly became concerned after she noticed that Shawna was not responding to her sent text messages.
UPDATE: @RoyCityPD identify victims in murder-suicide as family of 4; believe Russell Smith killed his wife, two children, then himself.
— Shara Park (@KSLSharaPark) June 22, 2015
The report further states that the police claimed it was a murder-suicide, consisting of Russell taking his own life after fatally shooting his wife and kids.
Roy City Police Lieutenant Kevin Smith issued an official statement about the tragic nature of the case on Monday.
“It’s very tragic… this was a very quiet family. The neighbors didn’t hear anything coming from the home. The only screams they heard were from the people that found the scene.”
Lynn Everley, a 68-year-old neighbor of the Smith family, stated in an interview that Russell worked at a company in Ogden that specialized in recycled outdated military supplies. His wife, Shawna, worked as a childcare worker at a nearby facility.
Howver, inside sources told Good4Utah that Russell Smith allegedly lost his job recently.
In an interview with Fox 13, police officer Josh Taylor explained the early stages of the investigation process as well as their updated status with this particular case.
“Understand with these kinds of investigations it does take a long time to gather the information… We’re just barely getting to the point where we’re starting to go inside the home and gather more information.”
According to the multiple neighbors that were interviewed, Russell Smith and his family were known for being “quiet,” “kind,” and “good people.” Everley referred to Russell and Shawna Smith as being a “couple that you would never have expected this to happen.”
[Image Credit: Dollar Photo Club]
