Mar 2, 2009 10:38 pm US/Central
3 Dead In Wilmette Apparent Double-Murder Suicide
WILMETTE, Ill. (CBS) ―
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Three people were found dead March 2, 2009 in an apparent double-murder suicide in this Wilmette home.
CBS
Three people were found dead in a home in the North Shore suburb of Wilmette Monday and police suspect the deaths were the result of a double murder-suicide.
CBS 2's Pamela Jones reports that a family friend says a mother and her son were killed today.
About 1:30 p.m. Monday police responded to a request for a well-being check at 826 Greenleaf Ave., a release from Wilmette police said.
Officers were unable to make contact with anyone in the home and had to make a forced entry into the home, the release said.
When they got inside they found three people -- an adult male, an adult female and an adolescent male -- all dead. Preliminary indications from the scene are that the woman and teenage boy were both shot by the adult male, and the adult male was killed by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The teen is identified as 17-year-old Chris Motes - a senior at New Trier Township High School.
CBS 2 is told that his mother worked as the coordinator for the First Presbyterian Church of Wilmette, which is right next door to the crime scene.
Investigators spent much of the afternoon searching for evidence at the scene.
"I feel sad. Really sad," said neighbor Patty Jane Pelton.
She lives just across the street from the church and watched police continue their work.
"It was like a CSI scene," Pelton said. "You saw people with their shoes covered up picking stuff up and putting it in a bag. You could tell it was an investigation."
A stream of parishioners and others filed into the church Monday night to pray for those who died.
CBS 2 is told many knew the teen as a promising student, who was active in the Boy Scouts.
"Chris and his mom and his family were outstanding people," said family friend Steve Felt. "They were wonderfully lovely people who were associated with the church."
Linda Yonke, the superintendent of New Trier Township High School, said she has spent most of the night contacting people in the school community to tell them about the loss of Chris Motes.
"All of Chris's friends and teachers are devastated," Yonke said. "He was very well liked and had just been accepted into college. He had a great future ahead."
Yonke said they will have counselors at the school Tuesday to speak with students and teachers.
As for the man police believe pulled the trigger - a source with the Cook County Medical Examiner's office tells CBS 2 he is identified as Richard Wiley. And published reports say he was convicted more than 20 years ago for stabbing his wife to death.
CBS 2's Pamela Jones and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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