Authorities in Washington state have released more details about the apparent murder-suicide of a woman and her twin daughters, and have announced that the girls’ father is not a suspect in their deaths.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, police in Whatcom County responded to an emergency call at a residence on Saturday afternoon, where they found Michele Boudreau Deegan and her twin 7-year-old daughters dead in a bedroom of apparent gunshot wounds. Local reports indicate that a man who was renting a room or a property from Bourdreau Deegan found the bodies and called police.
The twin girls have been identified as 7-year-old Mairy Anneleise Deegan and 7-year-old Katie Elizabeth Deegan, according to the Bellingham Herald. The report also confirms that Boudreau Deegan, 55, was employed as a therapist–apparently with a private practice–and had an active mental health counselor’s license.
Thought the investigation is ongoing, the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office shared updates in a news release obtained by the Bellingham Herald. The sheriff’s office said in the release that the girls’ father has been ruled out as a suspect, and has a “strong alibi” for the day and time investigators believe Boudreau Deegan fatally shot her daughters before turning the gun on herself.
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“Evidence at the scene clearly implicates Michele Boudreau Deegan as the only suspect in the death of her two daughters,” the release states.
According to the report, an autopsy determined that the twin girls had ingested or otherwise consumed a substantial amount of sedatives, which the sheriff’s office release said “probably rendered them incoherent at the time of the incident.”
The sheriff’s statement also said that Boudreau Deegan had given indications prior to her death that she was in crisis. Days before the murder-suicide, a judge ordered that she share custody with her estranged husband, which investigators believe led to her decision to kill her daughters and herself.
“She clearly stated her suicidal ideations and that she would never leave her daughters alone without her,” the release stated. “A court hearing on October 20th where joint custody was awarded to both Ms. Boudreau and her estranged husband appears to have been the precipitating event that led to her decision.”
If you or someone you know is in crisis, help is available 7 days a week, 24 hours a day by calling the National Suicide Prevention Hotline : (800-273-TALK).
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