Posted on 02/16/2024 9:40:17 AM PST by Red Badger
A former Meta engineer, his data scientist wife, and their 4-year-old twins were found dead inside their $2.1 million California home.
Police investigating the incident are treating it as a murder-suicide.
Anand Sujith Henry, 37, allegedly shot dead his sons and fatally shot his wife, Alice Benzinger, before turning the gun on himself, according to KTVU.
The couple was found dead inside the house with gunshot injuries besides a 9mm pistol and a loaded magazine inside the bathroom after police were called on for a welfare check on Monday.
The former Meta engineer’s two sons were found dead inside one of the five bedrooms.
The New York Post reported:
A cause of death for the two young children has not been released, but it is believed the boys were either smothered, strangled, or given a lethal overdose because there was no sign of trauma to their bodies, sources familiar with the investigation told NBC Bay Area.
A motive for the deaths remains unclear, as cops continue their investigation.
San Mateo police said in a statement:
“Based on the information we have at this time, this appears to be an isolated incident with no danger to the public, as we are confident the person responsible was located within the home.”
“This investigation continues as detectives work to gather evidence, speak to witnesses and family members and determine a possible motive.”
Police said they called the house a few times in the past but did not disclose details about the nature of the calls.
According to court records, the former software engineering manager at both Meta and Google had filed for divorce from Benzinger, a data science manager at Zillow in 2016.
However, the couple did not follow through with the divorce, and moved to their San Mateo home, where they would raise their two children in 2020.
“Before the babies were born, we would see the husband and the wife just taking a walk while she was pregnant,” Phyllis Halili told NBC Bay Area.
Some residents heard gunshots coming from the home before cops arrived, CBS reported.
“You hear it’s an entire family, and of course, your mind goes to a place of ‘What tragic event happened?'” said neighbor Ron Mifsud.
A horrid story re-enacted in every generation for thousands of years. Details may or may not clarify, but the appearance of prosperity is no guard against such as this.
Not to take away from the tragedy of the Kids and the wife losing their life, but I look this story up on the NY Post...and cant believe that that is a $2.1 million dollar home.
Bay area.
Very believable....................
I live in the bay area. Yes, that’s what 2 million dollar homes look like around here.
I can't prove it, however I believe Facebook/Meta is Evil and that rubs off on people that associate with it.
I also believe The Googles, They Are Evil, same deal.
You really need to get out more
Oh yeah. This is about the right price for a home in San Mateo.
Yeah, a $2.1 million home out there is a hovel.
The author could have provided a little more clarification between “fatally shot” and “shot dead”......
“and cant believe that that is a $2.1 million dollar home.”
I sold a well kept house for $128000 in south Alabama. Some people from San Francisco made an offer (it fell through). Their address was on the offer. I looked it up. Their house was about the same square footage as mine. The value of their house on Zillow was $1.1 million. That’s why, to me, trying to average house prices, income, or anything else in this country is meaningless.
Stopped reading at ‘meta engineer’ because the satisfaction was overwhelming.
I only regret that he didn’t take his frustration out on his former bosses at meta & google.
Shot fatally dead.....................
When I read of something like this I am reminded of a family two houses up from where we used to live in New Mexico. One day he came home, shot the wife, kids and himself.
When I lived in California decades ago I was broke—paycheck to paycheck.
After I moved out of the state I became prosperous.
Life is easy when you know the rules.
A similar thing happened here a couple of decades ago.
An Air Force non-com killed his wife and two kids and chopped them up in the bathtub, but then fled, apparently to Hawaii.
He was featured on an episode of America’s Most Wanted a couple of years later and was recognized by his neighbors ..................
Silicon Valley can really do a number on your head.
Not uncommon for expensive divorce to push over the edge.
A garden shed is worth 2.1 million dollars if it’s in the right zip code.
In the Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale area, very believable. Not to mention Atherton or Woodside. In FR tradition I did not read to find out the specific town this event was located in.
On the other end of the scale, I have seen complete piles of trash houses go for north of $800K anywhere within 30-35 miles of that area. In 48 hours on the market.
I’m still trying to figure out how the children were shot dead but had “no sign of trauma to their bodies”. Terrible writing.
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