1982 — July 2, Wife, children, mother-in-law shot (5), suicide, Thompson Falls, MT — 6

–6  Duwe, Grant.  Mass Murder in the United States: A History. McFarland, 2007, p. 127.

–6  Galveston Daily News. “Witness to family’s murder goes home after case closed.” 7-5-1982,

Narrative Information

Galveston Daily News: “Thompson Falls, Mont. (AP) — A 14-year-old boy who saw a friend’s father shoot his wife, three children and his mother-in-law, then kill himself, returned to his home in Washington state Sunday as authorities here closed their investigation of the killings.  Sanders County officials said Loxley Sexton, 40, killed his 39-year-old estranged wife, Linda; their three children, Debbie, 18, Bobby, 16, and Michael, 8; and Mrs. Sexton’s mother, Francis Cunningham, 65, then committed suicide.

“Curt McGowan of Snohomish, a friend of Bobby Sexton who was visiting the family, was told to leave the house by Sexton before the shootings and watched the slayings as he stood outside the house and looked through a window at the living room mirror.  McGowan was unharmed, as was Sexton’s father-in-law, George Cunningham, 80, an invalid confined to bed.” (Galveston Daily News, TX. “Witness to family’s murder goes home after case closed.” 7-5-1982, 3A.)

Sources

Duwe, Grant. Mass Murder in the United States: A History. McFarland, 2007.

Galveston Daily News, TX. “Witness to family’s murder goes home after case closed.” 7-5-1982, 3A. http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=116793592&sterm=thompson+falls