Jobless Dad Kills Family, Himself

[Hum]

LOS ANGELES ? The only hints of trouble in the big beige house on Como Lane were the newspapers in the driveway and the lack of any activity behind the front door.

But when police summoned by worried friends of the residents got inside Monday, they found a horror ? six members of a family fatally shot in a murder-suicide committed by an unemployed man in financial crisis.

The body of 45-year-old Karthik Rajaram, a gun clutched in one hand, was found by officers who followed a trail of carnage through the home in a gated community in the Porter Ranch area of the San Fernando Valley.

His victims, most slain in their beds, were his wife, three sons and his mother-in-law.

"Absolute devastation," Deputy Chief Michel Moore told reporters outside the home.

Investigators quickly found two suicide letters and a will, and determined that the man once worked for a major accounting firm and was at least the part-owner of a financial holding company.

"The source of it appears to be a financial state, a crisis if you will, that this man became embroiled in that has unfolded over the past weeks," Moore said.

The man wrote in his suicide letter that he felt he had two options ? to just kill himself or to kill himself and his family ? and decided the second option was more honorable, Moore said.

The bodies were found when officers were sent to make a check on the home Monday morning after the wife failed to show up at a neighbor's home to go to work as a pharmacy bookkeeper, Moore said.

Officers found the mother-in-law, Indra Ramasesham, 69, dead in bed on the first floor. Upstairs, they found a 19-year-old son, Krishna Rajaram, dead in bed in the master bedroom.

The gunman's 39-year-old wife, Subasri, was found in another room, also apparently shot while sleeping, Moore said.

In an adjoining room, a 12-year-old son, Ganesha, was dead on the floor, and his 7-year-old brother, Arjuna, was dead in bed. Their father's body also was found there with a handgun "in his grasp," Moore said. The gun was purchased Sept. 16.

Coroner's assistant chief Ed Winter said the victims were shot multiple times.

The killings occurred some time between midnight Saturday and early Monday morning, Winter said.

The father had a business degree and formerly worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers and Sony Pictures, but had been unemployed for several months, Moore said. The deputy chief did not identify the financial holding company, though Nevada records show an incorporation there.

Moore did not specify what financial trouble the man had been in. He noted that the family did not own the home.

The man had no record of mental disabilities or contacts with mental health professionals in Los Angeles County, Moore said.

PricewaterhouseCoopers spokesman Steven Silber said Karthik Rajaram last worked for the company in 1999, but declined to offer any further information about him.

Sony Pictures Entertainment spokesman Steve Elzer did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Karthik Rajaram is listed as a co-manager of a corporation called SKGL LLC, which is incorporated in Nevada, according to state records. He formed the corporation for his family's assets and used his family members' initials to form the name, said Las Vegas attorney Christopher R. Grobl.

SKGL was incorporated in 1999 and renewed its annual business license in December 2007. Grobl did not know what sort of business SKGL was or why Rajaram incorporated in Nevada.

Krishna Rajaram was enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles, as a junior majoring in business economics, spokesman Phil Hampton said.

source

[Gabureiru]

this is so tragic and sad :(, RIP

[perochan]

this is a popular case.

very sad.

[Abhishek kapoor]

So sad ........ but it's obvious if we are unemployed how can we feed our families

[Minimoose]

So sad ........ but it's obvious if we are unemployed how can we feed our families

Doesn't mean you have to kill them all, I'm sure they would prefer to be alive.

[Andrew Lyle Global Moderator]

Why do people feel the need to kill their whole family when things go bad? :no:

[psybapunk]

What a god damned idiot. Took everything away from his three young sons, with their whole future ahead of them. Selfish moron, obviously thought that the whole world revolved around him.

[Abhishek kapoor]

They all want to alive but i think the situation arises in front of them is more difficult ..... from the name of the family member it is looking like they belong to some asian country ......

If he killed himself then his whole family will be tortured .....

[Lee G. Veteran]

That's so sad :( RIP

It's tragic that he couldn't see a way through his problems. I'm surprised though that the rest of the family were slain in their beds. Wouldn't you wake up after hearing the gunshots and get out of bed, after the first shot?

[Andrew Lyle Global Moderator]

That's so sad :( RIP

It's tragic that he couldn't see a way through his problems. I'm surprised though that the rest of the family were slain in their beds. Wouldn't you wake up after hearing the gunshots and get out of bed, after the first shot?

That is what I wondered too. Maybe it had a silencer on it?

[+Neyht Subscriber²]

They all want to alive but i think the situation arises in front of them is more difficult ..... from the name of the family member it is looking like they belong to some asian country ......

If he killed himself then his whole family will be tortured .....

Yeah, those Los Angeles folk can be real brutal.

[cpu killer]

That's so sad :( RIP

It's tragic that he couldn't see a way through his problems. I'm surprised though that the rest of the family were slain in their beds. Wouldn't you wake up after hearing the gunshots and get out of bed, after the first shot?

Silencer.

Truly a tragic story :(

[Ci7]

had a silencer on it?

mr.47 on the job

[Lee G. Veteran]

Silencer.

Ah, I see. I thought it probably was. I know this sounds stupid but I didn't know whether it would silence the gun enough so it couldn't be heard by sleeping people.

[wst50]

Yeah, those Los Angeles folk can be real brutal.

He meant emotionally, you idiot... or sarcasm?

[Lasker]

Why do people feel the need to kill their whole family when things go bad? :no:

This is what happen when you are severely depressed and with not control to deal with the situation.

[That Guy Veteran]

Damn, that's a really sad story :(

Rest in Peace, all of them.

[primexx]

can you get a silencer just like that?

[afusion]

Although I feel bad at the situation it's pointless to gloat over what happened.

Rather lets fix the problem ourselfs meaning us the people not the government. Why should our money be handled by these "business" men..

If the government really cared about us they wouldn't be bailing out these crooks with our money.

[chrisj1968]

Although I feel bad at the situation it's pointless to gloat over what happened.

Rather lets fix the problem ourselfs meaning us the people not the government. Why should our money be handled by these "business" men..

If the government really cared about us they wouldn't be bailing out these crooks with our money.

The problem is truly the fact that WE ARE fixing the issue. Congress bailed out these failed banks and mortgage firms with OUR money, the ones who lent people money for houses they couldn't afford. a person with a $30,000 a year income in a $275,000 home.. c'mon!

now his loss of employment was probably as a result of the mortgage crash. I think killing your family is no excuse.

[The Rev]

Why do people feel the need to kill their whole family when things go bad? :no:

+1..... very sad......

[39 Thieves]

can you get a silencer just like that?

No, you can't.

[Kralik]

Its not just a US thing.. inflation and joblesness is creating cases like all over the world..

And at this point I'd like to thank Mr Bush Jr. for an outstanding economical policy and turning the global economy on its head.. :pinch:

[RAID 0]

can you get a silencer just like that?

Nope. The only way I can see him being able to do this with out waking the rest of the family, is to put a pillow over the barrel of the gun. That's the only other way to muffle the sound.

What a shame. I don't see how one could even fathom killing anyone let alone your own wife and kids.

Its not just a US thing.. inflation and joblesness is creating cases like all over the world..

And at this point I'd like to thank Mr Bush Jr. for an outstanding economical policy and turning the global economy on its head.. :pinch:

Wow. Bringing in politics into this thread. (N)

Even if this were a discussion for debate, it's not just Bush that got us into this mess. Bill Clinton changed the Community Reinvestment Act.

You can't blame just one person for the problems of the world.... well, you can it's just not correct.

[Minimoose]

*snip*

Edited October 8, 2008 by Minimoose