Los Angeles Times: Five Dead in Ind. Family Killing

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Five Dead in Ind. Family Killing
By Associated Press

December 15 2001, 3:45 AM PST

LOWELL, Ind. -- A small-town theater director fatally shot his wife and infant
daughter as she was bathing the child, then drove to his parents' home and
killed them before taking his own life.

Jeffrey Wein's sister and brother-in-law discovered the bodies in the older
couple's home Friday morning when they stopped by with plans to go holiday
shopping.

Police later found the bodies of Wein's wife and daughter at the family's home
about three miles away in Lowell, a rural northwestern Indiana town of about
7,500.

"We have no motive at this time. This is just a tragedy for the entire
community," said Lowell Police Chief David Wilson.

Police believe Wein, 30, committed the four slayings Thursday morning, then shot
himself. Officers found the makings of a pancake breakfast in the kitchen near
the body of John Wein, 66. Marie Wein, 65, had been shot to death at the top of
the basement stairs.

Jeffery Wein's sister told police she had called her parents Thursday night but
no one answered the phone. When she opened the door Friday morning, she found
blood on the floor. Her husband went inside and found the bodies.

Jeffrey Wein was found dead in his parent's dining area next to a 12-guage
shotgun he had bought the day before.

Police were still trying to determine a motive.

He and Kristin Wein, 31, had been married for about a year and a half, a second
marriage for both. She taught fifth-grade in nearby Hobart, but was on maternity
leave to care for the couple's 20-week-old daughter, Emma Marie.

"She was an enthusiastic and dedicated teacher who just loved her students,"
said a shaken Shannon O'Brien, the principal at Liberty Elementary School where
Kristin Wein taught.

Jeffery Wein had worked at Forward Telecom of West Chicago, Ill., and had
directed local musicals, including a performance last month at his alma mater,
Lowell High School.

William McIlree, who sold his home to the couple this summer, said he was
shocked by the slayings.

"They were all real nice," McIlree said. "It's a very shocking thing. I just
can't believe it. Everybody that lived there is dead."

Copyright 2001 Associated Press

Yup, 30 miles sw of here.  Lowell has had more than it's share of problems this year.