A father stabbed his wife and their two children to death, and then turned the knife on himself, hours before the graduation ceremony of one of his sons.
Jeremy Koch, 42, is believed to have killed his wife Bailey, 41, and their sons Hudson, 18, and Asher, 16, ‘before taking his own life’, according to the Nebraska State Patrol.
The family of four were found dead at their home in Lexington around 9.45am on Saturday, and a knife was recovered at the horrifying scene.
Hudson was set to walk in his high school graduation ceremony hours later.
Bailey’s mother, Lane Peg Kugler, said that seeing her daughter, son-in-law, and two grandsons lying in their beds dead ‘will haunt me the rest of my life’.
‘Jeremy had been fighting mental illness for many, many years. His depression had turned into psychosis,’ Kugler wrote on Facebook on Sunday afternoon.
‘It was not Jeremy that committed this horrific act. It was a sick mind.’
Kugler said her last conversation with her daughter was a few days ago and that the family was ‘preparing for Hudson’s graduation and reception’ and ‘it was going to be a wonderful day’.
Jeremy had been released from a mental hospital three days before his son’s graduation at Cozad High School.
Cozad Public Schools stated that the ‘tragic situation that will deeply affect our Cozad community’ and that the high school graduation would continue as scheduled at 4pm.
During the ceremony, Superintendent Dr Dan Endorf acknowledged ‘bittersweet emotions’.
Bailey was a special education teacher at Holdrege Middle School, and the school district remembered her as ‘a passionate educator, a caring colleague, and a bright presence in the school community’.
She documented her husband’s battle with depression in a Facebook page titled, ‘Anchoring Hope for Mental Health: Jeremy & Bailey Koch’, with 26,000 followers.
The page has as its description: ‘High school sweethearts now together over 25 years, our love story consists of fighting suicidal thoughts and attempts publicly so you know you’re not alone. We fight with you. And our God is stronger than this battle.’
The state patrol is leading an investigation into the suspected murder-suicide.
