SEFI, ZOE and ANGELICA LAZUKIN - infant, 1 yo and 3 yo / Presumed killer: Father; Nikolai Lazukin (Deceased) - Salem OR

Family of five dead in Salem murder-suicide, police say

Published: Tuesday, May 22, 2012, 12:58 PM
Updated: Tuesday, May 22, 2012, 1:11 PM
By Stuart Tomlinson, The Oregonian

Police have discovered the bodies of three children and a woman inside a burning house in Salem. Authorities said and it appears the body of a man found earlier in Cottage Grove killed his family and then himself in a murder-suicide.

Lt. Okada of the Salem Police Department said a fire was reported at a house in the 2800 block of Fisher Road NE at around 5:30 a.m. Tuesday. Firefighters found the bodies of the young children and the woman inside; all four had been murdered.

At 11 a.m., the body of a man—believed to be the husband of the dead woman and the father of the three dead children—was found in a car in Cottage Grove, 85 miles from the crime scene.

Police are not releasing names of the family involved, but said the Oregon State Police, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms and the Marion County District Attorney's Office are assisting Salem police in their investigation.

Okada said autopsies were scheduled on the victims.

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2012/05/family_of_five_dead_in_salem_m.html

Brother: Salem family's death was not murder-suicide

Reported by: Carla Castaño
Published: 7:43 am

SALEM, Ore. — Hundreds attended a Monday memorial for the family killed in a murder suicide out of Salem.

Police still believe Nick Lazukin killed his wife and three daughters before killing himself last week. The Slavic Christian Church in Salem was packed with people coming to pay their final respects to the Lazukin family Monday evening.

When the caskets were brought into the church it was clear extended family were still reeling, both from the family members' deaths and from the allegations that Nick was behind those deaths.

"I'm his oldest brother; we grew up together. He wouldn't do that," said Andrew Luzukin at the funeral Monday. "The kids were innocent. Why shoot them? Nick loved them."

At the boarded up home, dozens of cards, flowers and stuffed animals have been tied to the fence that surrounds the property. The suspect's oldest brother admits the loss hurts, and that he and others do not believe Salem police who say his 27-year-old brother killed his own family before lighting the house on fire and then shooting and killing himself.

"He didn't commit a crime. He is innocent. They are no entrants of the bullets in his head at all," said Andrew.

The Oregon State Medical Examiner contends Nick Lazukin died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The medical examiner also found Natalya Lazukin died of gunshot wounds, as did her 4-year-old and 5-year-old daughters. They said the baby was suffocated.

Still, the doubt is fresh in the minds of family and friends who gathered to mourn the tragedy and to remember what they've lost. They said, despite police reports, there are still many unanswered questions.

"We don't know why, who, when, where," said Andrew. "Nick's innocent; he did not kill them."

From neighbors to friends, everyone KOIN Local 6 interviewed said the Latzukins were a normal family with no signs of domestic violence.

"He loved his family," Andrew said of his brother Nick.

On Monday, this active Slavic community in Salem said good bye to everyone in that family.

http://www.koinlocal6.com/news/local/story/Brother-Salem-familys-death-was-not-murder-suici/_OvR3NIuA0aveSUSvZ7fkw.cspx

Autopsy: Father whose family was killed in Ore. home died from single gunshot to head

By Associated Press, Published: May 24

PORTLAND, Ore. — An autopsy Thursday showed a gunshot to the head killed a man at the center of an Oregon murder-suicide investigation, and the medical examiner said it was consistent with a self-inflicted wound.

Police identified the man as Nikolai Lazukin, 27. His body was found Tuesday in a car 80 miles south of a burned house in Salem where his wife and three children were found dead. Authorities said the wife and two of the children had been shot, and an infant asphyxiated.

Neither police nor Deputy State Medical Examiner Larry Lewman would officially call the death a suicide. Police released no other details of their investigation.

Firefighters who entered the burning home discovered the bodies of infant Sefi Lazukin, 1-year-old Zoe Lazukin, 3-year-old Angelica Lazukin and the children’s 26-year-old mother, Natalya Lazukin.

More than 100 people gathered for a memorial service outside the home Wednesday night, the Oregonian reported (http://bit.ly/Jg4aca).

A youth group from the Slavic Christian Church in Salem, where the family worshipped, tied balloons to a fence, and the crowd sang “Amazing Grace” in Russian.

“They were all wonderful,” said Irina Thompson, a relative of Nikolai Lazukin by marriage. “Nick was so good with the kids. I can’t understand why this would happen, but sometimes people change.”

Family members have spelled the father’s name Nikolay. Police Lt. Dave Okada said police have seen the name spelled both ways but are spelling it Nikolai in their records.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/autopsy-father-whose-family-was-killed-in-ore-home-died-from-single-gunshot-to-head/2012/05/24/gJQAuneUoU_story.html