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Police still not sure of details in shooting of woman, 2 children in Missouri

By Christine Byers, St. Louis Post-Dispatch –

GLENDALE, Mo. — Almost 30 hours after Mitchell Murch II told police his wife had fatally shot their two children and then herself, investigators said Tuesday afternoon they were still not sure of the circumstances.

“There is still much work to do and we intend to investigate this until we get a clear understanding of what happened,” said Florissant Police Lt. Tim Fagan, who is heading the investigation for the Major Case Squad.

“There are things that are out there pending,” Fagan told a news conference. “There’s autopsy reports, there’s lab investigations, certainly much information that we are waiting on. We will have a clearer picture once we have that information available to us.”

Glendale Police Chief Jeff Beaton said Murch called 911 twice, beginning at 10:57 a.m. Monday, first reporting shots in his house and then that he had found his wife, Catherine Murch, 42, and their two children — Mitchell III, 10, and Mary Claire, 8 — dead.

Beaton said police arrived in the 700 block of Hawbrook Avenue to find Murch giving his son CPR. Catherine Murch was on the kitchen floor. Their daughter was found shot in an upstairs bedroom. The children were removed to hospitals, where they were pronounced dead.

Friends, neighbors and a police source, who did not want to be identified, told St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporters that Catherine Murch had battled depression for years.

Fagan said, “There is absolutely nothing concerning her mental state that I’m prepared to release today.”

He also declined to discuss possible financial pressures on the family.

Mitchell Murch was terminated from his job in the marketing department of Centaur Building Services on July 1, according to the company’s chief financial officer, Paul Simons. He would not go into details about their parting.

“The whole company is in shock over this; Mitch was well-respected here,” Simons said. The firm provides janitorial services to large corporate clients, such as municipalities and school districts.

Centaur is a competitor to Mitch Murch Maintenance Management, where Murch had once worked in the family business. His brother, Tim Murch, is listed as the president, according to the company’s website. The company was founded by Mitchell Murch Sr.

It’s unclear when Murch left that enterprise. He worked for Centaur for less than a year, Simons said.

Fagan told reporters Tuesday that the investigation is contained within the Murch home. He said that with so much information still pending, he would not comment on the times of death or the number of wounds, except to characterize them as “multiple.”

He said Murch cooperated with police in interviews through Monday night but that they had not spoken with him since.

Fagan said he did not know if Murch hired a lawyer but said one had come to the police station while Murch was there.

The investigator did not say police doubted the account Murch provided. “Certainly, there is a possibility that this would be as reported,” he said.

Fagan said police did not consider Murch to be a suspect late Tuesday.

He said there had never been a police call “of any significance” to the address.

On his Facebook page, Murch indicated he was a shooting-range fan. Police removed at least three rifles from the home Tuesday, all with evidence tags hanging from them.

The Murches were described as a devoted, church-going family who belonged to the Mary Queen of Peace Catholic Parish.

On her Facebook page, Catherine Murch posted on May 16 the quote: “ ‘The ultimate goal of all goals is to be happy. If you want to be happy, make someone else happy.’ Deepak Chopra.”

Underneath, she posted, “Isn’t that the truth?”

Glendale spans a little more than a square mile, nestled between Webster Groves and Kirkwood.

Outside the two-story red brick home, neighbors placed flowers and tied pink, blue and white ribbons around trees.

A big wooden cross was set up out front. At its base were a pink teddy bear and a note to Mary Claire:

“You will be remembered forever, little one, especially by those of us who were your Glendale neighbors but who never had the joy nor the fun of meeting you.”

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