This is the horrific moment police told a mother her ex-husband had shot dead their two sons before setting the house on fire and turning the gun on himself. The bodies of Thomas Fuchs, a life coach and former attorney, and his sons Sean, 15 and Kyle, 13, were discovered in the early hours of yesterday morning when firefighters were called to a blaze at their home in Chula Vista, California. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
This is the horrific moment police told a mother her ex-husband had shot dead their two sons before setting the house on fire and turning the gun on himself
The bodies of Thomas Fuchs, a life coach and former attorney, and his sons Sean, 15 and Kyle, 13, were discovered in the early hours of yesterday morning when firefighters were called to a blaze at their home in Chula Vista, California.
When the boys’ mother arrived at 8am to pick the boys up, her anguished screams were caught on local television cameras. Maria Pe shouted ‘no, no, no’ as she clutched her stomach before collapsing to the ground.
Shocked friends, neighbours and schoolmates gathered outside the house yesterday as they tried to understand why Fuchs, who had a doctorate in clinical psychology, would kill his own children.
It is understood he was facing financial difficulties as he and his ex-wife battled for custody over the boys, but neighbours described him as ‘the perfect father’.
In a school essay written just days before he died his eldest son, Sean, described his father as his ‘hero’.
Sean also made a YouTube video as part of a school project on the environment in which he poignantly said: ‘Honestly, I don’t care if I don’t go down in history, i don’t care if I’m not remembered, as long as I do something good.’
Suicide notes were found throughout the ranch-style house house and in Fuchs’s minivan, one of which said ‘you wouldn’t understand’. He also left behind photo albums of the boys.
Police said they believed Fuchs, 49, shot his two sons before lighting several fires around the house and turning the gun on himself.
Neighbours in the quiet cul-de-sac called police at 1.30am when they saw smoke billowing from the property.
His body was found in the hallway with a pistol by his side, and his two sons were discovered in their own bedrooms.
NBC San Diego reported that Mr Fuchs was locked in an acrimonious custody battle with his ex-wife, who is also a lawyer.
He was also distraught over financial problems, and his home in Chula Vista was in the process of foreclosure, according to real estate records.
But police say they are baffled as to why Fuchs would take such an unimaginable course. He originally trained as a lawyer before taking a doctorate in psychology in California.
He wrote a thesis on ‘the midlife transition of men’, and ran his own life coaching business, Solutions Directed Coaching, which helped financial advisers and attorneys.
He ran baseball and football training sessions for local children, and had travelled to Uganda on charity missions.
On his website he wrote: ‘During my clinical work, I saw that therapy was really designed to address only certain types of problems, typically areas of pronounced distress.
‘Outside the clinical setting, I saw there were many people who were managing adequately in life, but who really wanted something more.
‘They knew they were not reaching their full potential. They were not fully experiencing what life has to offer.’
Describing the suicide notes, Lieutenant Lon Turner told the channel: ‘He did reach out to family members telling them certain things that he appreciated about them. The fact that they probably wouldn’t understand why he did what he did.’
Friends and neighbours were stunned by the killings, and said the family always seemed normal, the San Diego Union Tribune reported.
One, Pat Valdivia, said Fuchs and the boys were ‘the perfect dad and sons’, and were often outside playing basketball.
All day yesterday friends of the two boys gathered outside the house for a candlelit vigil, on what should have been Kyle and Sean’s last day at school before the summer vacation.
They sobbed and hugged each other for support as they shared their memories of the two boys.
Kyle was a seventh-grader at Bonita Vista Middle School, where his elder brother had also been a pupil before moving to High Tech High School.
The principal of Bonita Vista, Bernard Balanay, told the San Diego Union Tribune Kyle was a straight-A student who was taking accelerated classes.
