CAROLINE and MADISON KING - 3 yo twins - (2012) / Murderer: Father, Robert King - Mechanicsville, VA

Investigators release details in death of murdered twin girls


Posted on: 3:31 pm, January 30, 2012, updated on: 12:25pm, February 1, 2012



MECHANICSVILLE, Va. (WTVR) – A vigil was held Tuesday evening for twin sisters in Hanover killed by their father in a murder-suicide over the weekend.

Family and friends gathered to remember Caroline and Madison King outside the home on Wynbrook Lane in Mechanicsville.

The Hanover County Sheriff’s Office said the twin 3 year olds were found dead in Robert King’s home Saturday afternoon.

The two twins suffered cuts to their necks, said spokesman Sergeant Chris Whitley, in a release.

Sgt. Whitley said that King also hooked up his van to the home to send exhaust fumes into the house.

According to the Chief Medical Examiner, King and his daughters could have died from either the cuts or the carbon monoxide that built up in the home or a combination of both.Court records show King and his estranged wife were involved in a custody battle.

http://wtvr.com/2012/01/30/investigators-release-details-in-death-of-murdered-twin-girls/

Mother of Hanover twins killed amid custody dispute begged court for help

Posted on: 1:02 am, September 19, 2013

HANOVER COUNTY, Va. (WTVR) – It was a crime that sent shock waves through Central Virginia.

In the midst of a bitter custody battle, police said a Hanover County mother walked in to find her twin girls murdered in their beds by their father.

Kristi King, the girls’ mother, said she begged the court system for help and hopes her story will force family courts to listen to parents who express fear for their children’s safety.

“I sent my lawyer and the guardian ad litem pictures of them in their casket. I was angry,” said King during an interview with WUSA’s Andrea McCarren.

Rob King bought each of his twin daughters a fish, signed them up for swim lessons and gave them a bath. Hours later, he pumped carbon monoxide into their bedroom and slit their throats.

“I went and knocked on the door and the carbon monoxide detector was going off, said Kristi King. “And at that moment, I knew they were dead…. because they hated noise.”

The couple was in the midst of a bitter divorce and custody battle. King had offered joint custody of the three year olds, but her husband wanted the girls to himself.

In the months leading up to the murders, King said she pleaded with a court-appointed mediator to push for an emergency hearing as her estranged husband’s behavior grew increasingly erratic.

“She said he didn’t qualify because he hadn’t been diagnosed with anything,” King said. “Despite the every ten minute texting, the shoplifting.”

She said she told the mediator that her husband looked at porn, but she said no one would help.

In fact, King said she was told there was no appointment available for a psychiatric evaluation for several months.

King’s case is not unique. In a recent two-year period, the Center for Judicial Excellence tracked news reports that indicated fathers killed their own children in more than 100 cases related to custody and visitation disputes.

“When I show you a text that says, ‘I’m gonna make sure all your children are taken from you,’ you need to listen,” King warned. “My thought was that he would kidnap them. I didn’t think he would kill them.”


http://wtvr.com/2013/09/19/mother-of-hanover-twins-killed-amid-custody-dispute-begged-court-for-help/