Sunday, February 12, 2012

Tamarac, FL: Financial woes a clue to murder-suicide?

Tamarac —
The man suspected of killing his wife before driving to a Lauderdale Lakes gun range and taking his own life was complaining of financial pressure in the days before the couple died, a friend and neighbor said Sunday.

"He was mad because he was trying to open a new restaurant and she wouldn't go to work," said Eleanor DeMarti.Tamarac —
The man suspected of killing his wife before driving to a Lauderdale Lakes gun range and taking his own life was complaining of financial pressure in the days before the couple died, a friend and neighbor said Sunday.

"He was mad because he was trying to open a new restaurant and she wouldn't go to work," said Eleanor DeMarti.

Broward sheriff's deputies have yet to name the 52-year-old man and his wife, 45, but DeMarti and public records identified the occupants of the trim white house in the 2600 block of Northwest 55th street as Sutthisak and Chuthamas Suwan.

They are believed to be natives of Thailand.

The deaths are being investigated as a murder-suicide, said Dani Moschella, a sheriff's spokeswoman. She said Sunday that the couple apparently had no children, and detectives have been unable to locate any kin in the U.S.

DeMarti described the couple as "very hard working, very nice and neat." Next-door neighbors for about 10 years, they chatted often. "They just brought me some papayas from their backyard," said DeMarti, 81.

DeMarti said she saw Suwan leave home at about 10 a.m. Saturday as usual, but heading in a direction opposite from the way he normally went.

At 10:20 a.m. Saturday, police said a man entered the Arizona Shooting Range, 4317 N. State Road 7, and rented a gun.

After shooting himself, he was rushed to General Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

Deputies went to his home at about 1 p.m., and discovered his wife's body in a bedroom, said Moschella said.

DeMarti said that Suwan worked two jobs, as a cook and waiter, but may have quit both recently to concentrate on a restaurant he and a partner were planning to open in West Palm Beach.

Moschella said it's unclear how long the woman had been dead and the Sheriff's Office was not ready to release details about how she was killed.

The couple had been married since 1997. The Broward Sheriff's Office reported receiving no recent phone calls from their home.

Anyone with information about the couple or any relatives is asked to call Det. John Curcio at 954-321-4212 or Broward CrimeStoppers at 954-493-TIPS.

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