February 14, 2024
An Indian family of four was found dead inside their home in California's San Mateo on Tuesday in an incident that authorities believe to be a possible murder-suicide.
According to NBC News, the members of the family which belonged to India’s Kerala were identified as 42-year-old Anand Sujith Henry, his 40-year-old wife Alice Benziger, and their four-year-old twin boys.
Police said that officers were dispatched to the family's home on the 4100 block of Alameda de las Pulgas on Monday morning for a welfare check after receiving no response from the occupants.
Although there were no signs of forced entry, the officers found an unlocked window through which they entered the home and discovered the bodies of the two adults in a bathroom, both with gunshot wounds.
They also found a 9mm pistol, and a loaded magazine at the scene.
The couple’s twin boys were found in a bedroom, and their cause of death is under investigation.
Sources suggest they may have been smothered, strangled, or poisoned, as they showed no physical trauma.
Henry filed for divorce in December 2016, according to court documents, but the case was not settled.
The police have previously responded to calls from the residence but the specifics of those instances have not been made public. Investigators are still trying to piece together a reason for the deaths as there was no suicide note discovered.
Both Henry and Benziger were information technology experts who had spent the previous nine years in the US.
Henry was employed as a software engineer while Benziger worked as a senior analyst.