six dead in family murder-suicide

Tragic news out of Southern California. The financial crisis has taken its toll on a family in Porter Ranch, where Karthik Rajaram, a financial manager, was found dead in his home along with his wife, mother-in-law and 3 sons. Apparently distraught over losing his job, he killed his family, then took his own life: Father kills family and himself, despondent over financial losses.

When police entered the home on Monday, they first found the Rajaram's mother-in-law, Indra Ramasesham, 69, dead in a downstairs bedroom. His wife and three sons—Krishna, 19, a sophomore at UCLA majoring in business economics; Ganesha, 12; and Arjuna, 7 —were discovered in various upstairs bedrooms, all shot in the head, some with multiple gunshot wounds. More here: 6 die in family murder-suicide in Los Angeles.

Rajaram was a financial manager who once made more than $1.2 million in a London-based venture fund. But in recent times he had lost his job, and saw his finances wiped out by the stock market collapse.

According to authorities, he left two suicide notes and a last will and testament. In a letter addressed to police, Rajaram blamed his actions on economic hardships. A second letter, labeled "personal and confidential," was addressed to family friends; the third contained a last will and testament.

The letter to police voiced two options: taking his own life, or killing himself and his entire family. It appears that he somehow talked himself into the second choice, because to him, it seemed to be the "honorable thing to do."

That's ridiculous. We've seen too many of these family multiple murder-suicides now, and it absolutely infuriates me. I understand that Rajaram had reached a very desperate place and his life, and it might have seemed to him that he had run out of options. But as with most of such cases, I have a hard time believing his only choice was to kill himself... and his entire family. To me, it's just one of the most selfish things you could do.