POSTED: 10:57 am CST March 7, 2011
UPDATED: 6:05 pm CST March 7, 2011
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Garvin County authorities said they suspect David Ables killed his two 5-year-old children before killing himself Saturday in Foster.
Ables worked as a volunteer firefighter in the nearby Garvin County town of Pernell.
"I think I knew when I first heard there was a fire that it was him. I kind of knew all along I'd hear one day that something happened to him down there," Ables' ex-wife said.
She asked that her identity be concealed. The two children found dead over the weekend were not hers. They were children Ables had with his current wife.
The former Mrs. Ables said her marriage to David Ables was hardly picture-perfect, but many outsiders thought it was. As investigators began to piece together what happened inside his Garvin County home, his fellow firefighters in Pernell described him in glowing terms.
"Everybody who knew him outside the house and stuff knew he was good. They assumed I was the one abusing him," Ables’ ex-wife said.
However, Ables' ex-wife told Eyewitness News 5 that she had been held at gunpoint by her husband four times over the years, including one time on Christmas Eve.
"We came home on Christmas Eve from his family's house, and he held me at gunpoint until Christmas Evening," she said.
Investigators said David Ables was separated from his current wife. They both appeared in court for a custody hearing the Friday before the fire.
Eyewitness News 5 looked into court records to see if there was any reason David Ables might have been concerned about losing custody of his children.
The documents show another hearing was scheduled in Ables' divorce proceedings but that it was postponed until next month.
The documents also show Ables was allowed visitation with his sons every weekend and on holidays. There are no indications Ables was in danger of losing visitation privileges.
Investigators added that a Facebook post led a family member to call police to check on him just before the fire started.
The neighbor who placed the call told Eyewitness News 5 he was going to the home at the request of another neighbor who said David Ables would not answer his door.
Ables' ex-wife said she can think of only one reason he might have killed his children before killing himself.
"He didn't like parting with any of his possessions. So, he would rather kill them than let someone else have them," she said.
The state fire marshal's office finished up its investigation of the scene on Sunday. The cause of the fire has not been determined.
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