MARY CLAIRE and MITCH MURCH III - 9 and 11 yo/ Suspect: Mother; Cathy Murch - Glendale (St. Louis) MO

Glendale Police Investigating Deaths Of Woman, Two Children

Posted on: 1:51 pm, July 30, 2012
updated on: 01:42pm, July 30, 2012
by Chris Hayes

GLENDALE, MO (KTVI) – Glendale Police are investigating the deaths of a woman and two children. The three were found dead in a home on Hawbrook Road, which is not far from the intersection of Lockwood and Sappington Roads in Glendale.

The incident was reported as a murder-suicide by a man who called 9-1-1 from the home at around 11am. According to police, the man is the husband and father of the victims. When they arrived, police found the man performing CPR on his son. His wife was found dead in the kitchen. The young girl was found dead upstairs.

The man has been taken to police headquarters where he is being questioned.

https://twitter.com/ChrisHayesTV/status/230021305540427776

The child victims are reportedly a nine year old girl and eleven year old boy. Police did recover a weapon from inside the home but say there was no apparent suicide note found. Police continue to investigate.

Neighbors in the area are visibly upset.

FOX 2 has crews on the scene and will bring you more details as they become available.

http://fox2now.com/2012/07/30/glendale-police-investigating-death-of-woman-two-children/

@ChrisHayesTV
Glendale, MO police say they'll treat deaths of 2 kids & Mom as homicide until they rule it out. @FOX2now
2:25 PM - 30 Jul 12

Glendale double murder, suicide under investigation

2:32 PM, Jul 30, 2012

Glendale, Mo (KSDK) -- Glendale police are investigating a double murder, suicide.

Glendale Police Sgt. Bob Catlett said investigators believe a mother shot and killed her 11-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter before turning the gun on herself.

The scene was near Hawbrook and Park avenues Monday afternoon.

The victims were found in three different rooms. The daughter was found in a second-floor bedroom.

The woman's husband was giving the son CPR when police arrived at the scene.

Police also questioned the father, but did not call him a suspect.

The Major Case Squad is investigating.

http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/330509/3/Glendale-police-Mother-killed-children-herself

"The scene was near Hawbrook and Park avenues Monday afternoon. Neighbors said the residence is the home of Cathy and Mitch Murch."

http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/330509/3/Glendale-police-Mother-killed-children-herself

Cathy Murch Kills Her Kids, Mitch Murch III and Mary Claire, Self in Apparent Double Murder-Suicide

July 31, 2012 By Janet Shan


Glendale MO Mother Cathy Murch Kills Two Kids, Mitch Murch III and Mary Claire Murch, Self in Double Murder Suicide

GLENDALE DOUBLE MURDER-SUICIDE: Cathy Murch reportedly killed her 11-year-old son, Mitch Murch III and nine year old daughter, Mary Claire, before turning the gun on herself in an apparent double murder-suicide at her Glendale, MO, home Monday.

KSDK reports the victims were found in three different rooms and Mitch Murch, the husband and father of the children, was found performing CPR on his son when the police arrived.

The children were pronounced dead at an area hospital.

http://hinterlandgazette.com/2012/07/cathy-murch-kills-kids-double-murder-suicide.html

Police Release Few Updates In Glendale Shooting Deaths

Posted on: 2:24 pm, July 31, 2012, by Staff Writer
updated on: 02:11pm, July 31, 2012

GLENDALE, MO (KTVI)-The St. Louis Major Case Squad continues to investigate a reported murder/suicide of a Glendale, MO mother and her two children. There are 20 investigators working to determine what exactly happened Monday in the home on Hawbrook Road.

Press Release – Update On Glendale Shootings

Glendale Police and the Major Case Squad are working together on the case, gathering evidence and talking with neighbors. Authorities are still waiting for preliminary results from the St. Louis County Medical Examiner’s Office and the Crime Lab.

Police do say that this was an isolated incident and that there is no reason for neighbors to be concerned about a suspect at large.

According to Police, Mitch Murch II, the father and husband, called 9-1-1 from the home on Monday saying there had been a murder-suicide. When they arrived, police found Murch performing CPR on his 11-year-old son, Mitch Murch III. His wife, Cathy Murch, was found dead in the kitchen. The 9-year-old daughter, Mary Claire Murch, was found dead upstairs.

Mitch Murch II was taken to police headquarters for questioning and later released.

If anyone has any information in the case, they are asked to contact the Major Case Squad at the Glendale Police Department at (314) 965-0000.

http://fox2now.com/2012/07/31/police-release-few-updates-in-glendale-shooting-deaths/

Status Update

10 mins ago

Glendale Police and the Major Case Squad will hold a 4:15pm news conference on the deaths of a mother and her two children. FOX 2 will bring it to you live on-air and online.

http://fox2now.com/status/glendale-police-and-the/

LIVE LINK: http://fox2now.com/on-air/live-streaming-2/

Police continue investigation into death of Glendale woman, children

UPDATED at 5 p.m. with press conference.

GLENDALE • Authorities said they are still investigating the shooting deaths of a Glendale woman and her two children Monday morning.

In a press conference this afternoon, authorities said they don't consider the husband and father, Mitchell Murch II, a suspect. Police didn't say what they think happened in the house, but reiterated that Mitchell Murch had called 911 twice Monday morning, first reporting shots in his house and then that he had found his wife, Catherine Murch, 42, and their two children — Mitchell, 10, and Mary Claire, 8 — dead, apparently in a murder-suicide perpetrated by Catherine Murch.

"There is still much work to do and we intend to investigate this until we get a clear understanding of what happened," Florissant Police Lt. Tim Fagan,
who is heading the Major Case Squad investigation, said in the press conference.

Authorities are waiting on autopsies and lab reports as they try to determine what happened.

Fagan said Mitchell Murch II had been cooperative during the initial investigation. He was released after questioning Monday night.

Authorities have not spoken to him since then, Fagan said.

Murch told police he was in the home and heard gunfire. He “thought it was coming from outside, so he ran to his front door and saw his wife lying in the kitchen, his son was lying in a side room and his daughter was in the second story of the home,” Glendale Sgt. Bob Catlett said Monday.

Police found the three shot inside the two-story red brick home. Catherine Murch, found on the first floor, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Her son, Mitchell, was found on the first floor, where his father was attempting CPR, police said. The boy was later pronounced dead at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

Daughter Mary Claire, found on the second floor of the home, was later pronounced dead at Mercy Hospital St. Louis in Creve Coeur.

Police believe the murders were an isolated incident and "there is no reason to be concerned about a suspect at large," a statement from police said.

The Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis was activated, and the St. Louis County Police Department's crime scene investigators assisted at the scene. At about 11 a.m. today, detectives with the Major Case Squad continued to knock on doors in the neighborhood and evidence technicians walked in and out of the home, some carrying metal detectors. A single bouquet of flowers was placed near the street in front of the home.

A big wooden cross was also set up in front of the house. At the base was a pink teddy bear and a note to Mary Claire:

"You will be remembered forever, little one, especially by those of us who were your Glendale neighbors but who never had the joy nor the fun of meeting you."

There are blue, pink and white ribbons tied around the trees on their street.

Glendale spans a little more than a square mile and is nestled between Webster Groves and Kirkwood.

Mitchell Murch II graduated from De Smet Jesuit High School in 1987 and the University of Missouri in 1992, according to his Facebook page. On his LinkedIn page, he describes himself as working in business development for Centaur Building Services. A company representative confirmed Murch's position had been terminated July 1, but would not say why. He had worked there for less than a year.

According to Catherine Murch's Facebook page, she graduated from the University of Missouri in 1992 with a degree in political science, and from St. Louis University in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in nursing. She attended Visitation Academy.

According to an online profile, Catherine Murch was a registered nurse who most recently worked as a St. Louis-area treatment educator for Special Design Healthcare, described as a 'specialty pharmacy provider."

She also worked previously for the Washington University School of Medicine, most recently as a research patient coordinator, a school spokeswoman said.

She held that job from November 2010 through February 2011, according to her profile on LinkedIn. Her first stint at the university was from January 1997 through January 1999.

From April 2000 through May 2003, she worked as an HIV specialty sales representative for Abbott Laboratories in the St. Louis area, according to her online profile.

The Murch children attended Mary Queen of Peace School in Webster Groves, and the family was involved in the parish, according to the Rev. Bob Reiker.

"We're just trying to piece it together and come to grips," he said on Monday afternoon.

Catherine Murch was a noted volunteer at her church. According to the church website, she was the social committee chair in charge of ice cream socials at the school. An ice cream social is planned for Aug. 12, four days before the start of school.

Most who attended a memorial service at the church Monday night declined to comment, but those who briefly spoke with a reporter said they were praying for and thinking about the family. During the prayer service, attendees were asked to remember the good times they shared with the Murch family and prayed for all who are grieving.

Brooke Callahan, 17, a Kirkwood High School student, stood outside her home across from the street from the Murch family home Monday as police guarded the scene.

"They were the typical Mary Queen of Peace family," she said. "Somebody I know committed suicide just two weeks ago. This is so close, it's just weird."

Bob Goessling, who attends Mary Queen of Peace, said he attended several retreats with Mitchell Murch II, and his fifth-grade daughter was in the same class as Murch's son.

"This is going to devastate this community," Goessling said. "The wife and husband were extremely outgoing and well-liked. They were very spiritual and into
their church community."

Several of Mitchell's classmates were celebrating a birthday party Monday when word got out of the tragedy. A mother at the party said she and another parent kept the news of deaths from the girls and struggled to keep smiling during the celebration.

"It's just devastating," said the mother, who asked that her name not be used. "Here I'm looking at these precious soon-to-be fifth-grade girls, and they have no idea ... What do the parents do? What do we say about why they died?"

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/police-continue-investigation-into-death-of-glendale-woman-children/article_27cfee60-e835-5602-9f62-01236ac33b58.html

Wealthy Wife May Not Be Shooter In Apparent Murder Of Her Kids


Police are backing away from an original theory that the wife of a wealthy businessman shot her two kids before taking her own life. The husband, who found all three bodies, is ‘cooperating’ with police. Read on to find out the details.

Mitch Murch discovered the bodies of his wife, Cathy Murch, and two kids, Mitch Murch III and Mary Claire Murch, in various rooms of their large St. Louis-area home after hearing gunshots. Mitch told police he was downstairs during the time of the shooting, but he believed his wife shot their kids before killing herself.

Although police were initially treating the investigation as a murder-suicide, they are now backtracking.

“Certainly, there is a possibility that this would be as reported, but again, it’s too early in this investigation to make a specific determination of exactly what happened,” Major Case Squad Lt. Tim Fagan said, according to KMOV St. Louis.

He also said that the results of the crime lab tests and autopsies are stil pending, and could hold other clues to the crime, such as who shot the gun.

Investigators also need to talk to more people connected to the family and the case.

Mitch II, however, has not been named a suspect, and has been cooperating with police.

As far as a motive for Cathy, police were not at liberty to say yet. “There’s absolutely nothing concerning her mental state that I’m prepared to release today,” Lt. Tim Fagan said.

What a tragedy HollyMoms. Our thoughts are with their family during this difficult time.

http://hollywoodlife.com/2012/08/01/police-investigate-shooting-deaths-wealthy-wife-cathy-murch-two-kids-murder-suicide-st-louis/

There has been something very fishy about this story ever since it was published. The husband claims he heard shots throughout his house in different floors but didn't figure it out until his wife came downstairs and killed herself? I guess we shall see what the truth is once the LE finishes their investigation.

‏@ChrisHayesTV
#MajorCaseSquad has made a decision in #GlendaleKillings. News conference at 4:30 @FOX2now & @KPLR
1:59 PM - 3 Aug 12

BabyJ I agree it all sounded strange and also was hard to believe how someone could shoot her two children in different rooms and then go into the kitchen and kill herself - all while her husband was right in the house. But apparently that is exactly what happened:

4:46 pm, August 3, 2012, by Chris Hayes and George Sells, updated on: 06:58pm, August 3, 2012
"GLENDALE, MO (KTVI) – The Major Case Squad say the deaths in Glendale was indeed a murder-suicide.

Investigators say Catherine Murch took the life of her two children, 9-year-old Mary Claire and 11-year-old Mitchell, then turned the gun on herself.

Autopsy results revealed that Catherine died from a single self inflicted gunshot wound. The daughter was shot once and the son was shot multiple times.

Investigators say Catherine purchased a handgun legally from an online store on July 28. The gun purchased was indeed the gun used. There were no sign that anyone else fired the weapon.

Catherine had a mental health history. The family was under financial strain. Catherine was having a difficult time over the past couple of weeks. No suicide note was found, but there were some internet searches conducted by Catherine pertaining to suicide. She was concerned for her children in the present and future.

The original report stated that shootings happened just before 11 a.m. Monday. Mitch Murch, II called police twice. In the first call he reported hearing gunshots. In the second, he told police his wife Catherine had shot their daughter and their son then turned the gun on herself.

Police arrived at the home to find Murch performing CPR on his son. The two kids were taken to the hospital where they died. Catherine Murch was pronounced dead at the scene. Police confirmed Wednesday that no kind of suicide note was ever discovered.

The Greater St. Louis Major Case Squad was activated that day. Mitch Murch was questioned by investigators for about seven hours, then left. Police confirm an attorney arrived during the questioning to represent Murch.

Asked Tuesday if Murch was in any way a suspect in the case, Lt. Fagan said, “At this time I do not consider him a suspect.”

The two children and mother will be laid to rest on Saturday. Private services will take place Saturday at the Cathedral Basilica in the Central West End. Burial will be in Kirkwood."

http://fox2now.com/2012/08/03/update-police-say-glendale-deaths-result-of-murder-susicide/

How horribly tragic.

It is an unusual case indeed since the husband was in the house. I guess when he heard the gunshots that were actually upstairs in his own house, he thought they were from outside. The mother must have been determined and quick. It's amazing she didn't kill him too. I'm glad that LE is able to figure it out and clear him as I know he was a suspect which is normal. So sad for the family.

Catherine Murch Killed Self, Kids in Murder, Suicide




GLENDALE, Mo. -- A suburban St. Louis woman with a history of
depression bought a gun two days before she killed her two children and
herself while her husband was in another part of the house, authorities
said Friday.


Mitchell Murch II called police Monday to report that he heard shots.
Police who responded found 42-year-old Catherine Murch in the kitchen,
10-year-old Mitchell Murch III elsewhere on the first floor and
8-year-old Mary Claire Murch on the second floor of the house the
well-to-do suburb of Glendale.


Police questioned Mitchell Murch II but said they believed
the case was a murder-suicide. Still, nearly two dozen investigators
with the St. Louis Area Major Case Squad were assigned to the case.


During an emotional news conference Friday, Lt. Tim Fagan said
although investigators were still awaiting toxicology results, they were
confident the shooting was a murder-suicide, as was originally
reported. He pointed to three key pieces of evidence in determining that
Catherine Murch was responsible for the shootings: an autopsy
suggesting her wounds were self-inflicted, a receipt showing she bought
the handgun used in the shootings from a St. Louis business two days
earlier, and her longtime battle with depression. He said no suicide
note was found.


Fagan said Catherine Murch had been fighting depression for several
years but her condition seemed worse recently. He also said the family
had been under some financial strain but didn't elaborate.


"She was having a difficult time," Fagan said.


Fagan said the size of the investigation was necessary to "get a very
clear understanding of what happened." He had to stop and compose
himself for several seconds when asked why Catherine Murch killed her
children as well as herself.
"I have a picture of someone who loved her children very much. I know
that's difficult for all of us...." He paused and appeared to be
choking up. "Difficult for all of us to understand."


Fagan said the shootings happened in quick succession. Mitchell Murch
III was shot several times, but Mary Claire and Catherine Murch were
both killed by single shots.


"I don't know if there was much opportunity for him to intervene," Fagan said, referring to the children's father.


Police said Mitchell Murch II was reading inside the home when he
heard gunfire. When first responders arrived, they found him trying to
resuscitate his son.


The deaths shocked the affluent neighborhood, where the Murches'
stately, two-story brick home sits on a large, neatly manicured lot.
Court records show the couple paid $764,900 for the home in 2007.
Catherine Murch graduated from the University of Missouri in 1992
with a degree in political science and received a nursing degree from
Saint Louis University in 1994. Online records indicate she was a
registered nurse.


Mitch Murch II, 43, graduated from the University of Missouri, also in 1992. He owns a maintenance management company.


The family was active in Mary Queen of Peace Catholic Church in
nearby Webster Groves, and the children attended Mary Queen of Peace
School, where Catherine Murch was a frequent volunteer.


Private funeral services are scheduled for Saturday at Cathedral Bascilica in St. Louis.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/04/catherine-murch-murder-suicide-killed-kids_n_1741016.html