Autopsies have confirmed four members of an Addison family found dead in their home in the western Chicago suburb were the victims of a murder-suicide, authorities said Thursday.
Thomas Mangiantini Sr., 48, shot himself after killing his wife and two sons, according to the DuPage County coroner's office.
Mangiantini's wife, Elizabeth, 46, died of a single gunshot to the head, as did their 8-year-old son, Thomas Jr., autopsies showed. The couple's 12-year-old son, Angelo, died after being shot multiple times in the head.
Police said they could hear gunshots as a woman believed to have been Elizabeth Mangiantini, made a frantic 911 call about 6:30 a.m. Wednesday. Officers who arrived minutes later found Elizabeth Mangiantini downstairs and her husband and two sons upstairs. They also found a handgun.
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"Every time one of these cases happens, you try to figure out why the guy would do it," DuPage State's Attorney Joseph Birkett said in a statement. "Sometimes there are signs and indicators but, many times, there's no warning signals. Maybe there is to close friends and associates, but to the rest of the world, it goes largely unnoticed and appears to happen out of the blue."
The exterior of the Mangiantini home was already decorated for Christmas. One of the holiday figures on the lawn was seated in an inflatable plastic boat, which neighbors said was a joking reference to Thomas Mangiantini's love for fishing. He frequently took his sons on fishing, camping and hunting trips to Michigan, they said.
Steve Nelms, an official at the Addison Recreational Club, said Thomas Mangiantini coached youth baseball for the organization for several years and had visited him last week to drop off paperwork from last summer's season.
"He was in a good mood and kind of joking and kidding around," Nelms said.
Neighbors said the Mangiantinis had lived in Addison since 1993, and Addison police said they had never been called to the house before.
Neighbor David Berndt said Thomas Mangiantini worked as a printer and his wife had a sales position with the Ford Motor Co. for more than a decade before she was laid off this past spring.