Florida mother killed her two kids then herself while husband was on business trip, cops say
A Florida mother “violently” killed her two children before taking her own life inside their ritzy gated-community home.
Monika Rubacha carried out the double murder-suicide inside her family’s $1.7 million Lakewood Ranch residence, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.
Cops arrived at the house around 8:30 p.m. Thursday after her husband, Richard James, who was on a business trip in South America, asked them to check on the family, authorities said.
Monika Rubacha, 44, killed her two kids before taking her own life, police say.
Richard grew concerned when he could not get in contact with his family for at least a day and a half, according to sheriff’s office spokesperson Randy Warren.
“Right away, you could tell something wasn’t right,” Warren told The Post. “There were signs of homicidal violence.”
Responding deputies found Rubacha, 44; Josh James, 14; and Emma James, 11, dead inside, all with “traumatic” injuries, the sheriff’s office said.
The medical examiner has yet to determine their official causes of death, but an investigation determined that Rubacha killed each of her children in separate rooms before killing herself.
No one else was involved in the harrowing incident, said police, who were still investigating.
The double murder-suicide occurred in the family’s Lakewood Ranch home.Manatee County Sheriff’s Office
“I can tell you that this is a violent scene,” Warren said, WFLA reported.
“It’s horrible to even imagine what would have been going through the mind of this mother that led up to this.”
Warren said the family-of-four moved to the area about three years ago and there were no previous incidents linked to the address.
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