Man kills mom and grandma in California

[atprm]

Man Accused Of Killing Mom, Grandma
Bodies Found During Welfare Check In Sacramento

POSTED: 12:30 am EDT April 30, 2008
UPDATED: 12:49 am EDT April 30, 2008
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A man is accused of killing his 65-year-old mother and 94-year-old grandmother in Sacramento, police said.

Jack Squires, 45, was taken into custody Tuesday night on two counts of homicide, Sgt. Matt Young said.

Police said that Squires lived with both of his relatives.

The women were found shortly after 10 a.m. Tuesday on the 600 block of Blackwood Street during a welfare check, Young said.

The identities of the women have not yet been released. Both suffered apparent gunshot wounds, Young said.

The incident remains under investigation.

[PrincessArky]

how sad :(

[dv8grl]

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/900873.html

Two killed in North Sac
Suspect, 45, is son, grandson of victims

A 45-year-old handyman was arrested Tuesday in connection with the shooting deaths of his mother and grandmother inside the North Sacramento home the three shared, police said.

The women were found dead Tuesday morning in the home in the 600 block of Blackwood Street in the Woodlake neighborhood, authorities said, a collection of well-kept homes and front lawns adorned with rosebushes.

A relative of the women called police Tuesday after they could not be reached. Officers arrived at the home around 10 a.m. and found the women dead, police said.

They were identified by the county Coroner's Office as Elma Alberta Matranga, 94, and Kathleen Gay Roloff, 65.

Authorities put out an alert for Jack Squires, notifying local law enforcement agencies that he was a person of interest in the case, said Sacramento Police Officer Konrad Von Schoech.

About 3:30 p.m., a Sacramento County sheriff's deputy spotted Squires in his Ford Thunderbird and police caught up to him just a few blocks from the double-homicide scene, Von Schoech said. Officers swarmed the car with guns drawn and took Squires into custody, he said.

Homicide detectives questioned him Tuesday evening.

Von Schoech had stopped short of describing Squires as a suspect – "He could say something that could lead us in a totally different direction," Von Schoech said.

But Squires later was arrested on suspicion of homicide.

According to court records, Squires' criminal record in Sacramento County consists of two arrests for nonviolent events.

In 1989 he pleaded guilty to loitering on private property and received three years' probation, according to court records. Four years later he pleaded no contest to driving while under the influence.

Squires' family members declined to comment Tuesday.

The two women led a quiet life, neighbors said.

The 94-year-old Matranga was bedridden but chipper, said Randy Juster, a neighbor who recently helped bring the family's groceries into their home.

"She said she had just gotten out of the hospital, but she was perky," he said.

Squires' mother, Roloff, was a "very ordinary, very nice person," Juster said. Their home was "clean but a little cluttered" and that Squires had turned the garage into an art studio, he said.

Several other neighbors said they had rarely – if ever – spoken with or seen the two women. They spent most of their time inside watching television, neighbors said.

Friends and neighbors described Squires as an eccentric handyman who helped with heavy lawn work and often baked cookies and cakes for his friends.

He painted several works for Nadine Holden, including an Egyptian-style portrait that hangs above her bed.

"Jack's life has changed forever," said Holden, who lives across the street. "He's unique and fun."

Holden said Squires argued with his mother and grandmother, but the disagreements were "typical family stuff, nothing violent." She said he considered himself his mother's and grandmother's caretaker.

Squires is also a well-known handyman in the neighborhood. He helped dig a ditch in Juster's backyard three weeks ago and removed large tree stumps from Fay Grundel's yard.

Grundel said her conversation with Squires was "like I was talking to an eighth-grader."

"You just got the sense of somebody who was kind of lost," she said. "He just doesn't fit in."

Cricket Doran, a friend of Holden's who met Squires about a year ago, said he gave her gold earrings for her birthday and baked her sugar cookies one of the first times they met.

"He's out there, but very funny," she said. "He was safe."

"Something went wrong in that house," she added.