First Reported as Murder-Suicide, Police Turn Investigation Toward Husband

GLENDALE, Mo. — Three members of a young family are dead, and on Tuesday investigators were still trying to determine if the mother killed herself and her two kids or if someone else killed them.

The victims are 9-year-old Mary Claire Murch, 11-year-old Mitch Murch III, and their mother, Cathy.

Police say the husband and father, Mitch Murch II, called 911 at about 11 a.m. Monday, telling them he heard a gunshot while he was reading in his house. A few minutes later he called them back to say there had been a murder-suicide, apparently reporting that his wife had killed their two kids and herself.

Police questioned him for several hours Monday and then released him. Monday night, friends and church members gathered at the family’s home-parish, Mary Queen of Peace, to grieve together and work through the terrible loss.

FOX 2 in St. Louis is following the story. Click here for updates.