By Cal Stone, Eric D. Lawrence, Naomi R. Patton and L.L. Brasier
GANNETT NEWS SERVICE
A man who owned a now-defunct Howell-area party-supply store killed his 38-year-old wife and two children Friday at their home in Novi before taking his own life in a parking lot in Lyon Township, authorities said.
A motive is unknown — no suicide note has been found — but Mark and Jennifer Schons were deep in debt, had filed for bankruptcy in December and were considering a divorce, although they continued to live together with their children in their home on Applebrooke Drive in rural southern Novi, police said.
"Our job now is to move backward and try to figure this out and identify what has taken place in the last 19 to 20 hours," Novi Police Chief David Molloy said Friday. "We may never know what triggered this event, but we will know everything about these victims and what has led to this."
A friend of the family called Novi police and indicated the children did not show for school and that their mother had missed a scheduled appointment with her friends Friday.
Shortly after noon, Novi police officers entered the family's home near Nine Mile and Napier roads, and discovered three bodies — Jennifer Schons and her two sons, Tynan, 6, and Camden, 4 — in separate bedrooms. Mark Schons was not there, so police issued an alert for his vehicle.
Mark Schons, 39, was discovered at around 2:24 p.m. that day in his leased GMC Acadia in the Walmart parking lot at Interstate 96 and Milford Road in Lyon Township.
An Oakland County sheriff deputy from the Lyon Township substation located the vehicle in the parking lot, approached it and found the apparent suicide victim.
"I commend the deputy," Molloy said. "He had checked several areas, and did one last check and decided to go through parking lot and he saw the vehicle; hats off to that deputy."
Police believe Mark Schons killed Jennifer Schons with a knife. Autopsy results released Saturday said she died of multiple stab wounds, and a knife police believe was used in the killing was found in her husband's SUV.
Autopsies revealed their sons died of asphyxia due to compression.
The Oakland County medical examiner also said Mark Schons took his own life after inhaling the fumes from a charcoal grill in his vehicle.
"We're backtracking to see where he purchased a small grill and charcoal which he lit inside the SUV, producing enough carbon monoxide to suck all the oxygen out," said Molloy.
The chief could not comment on the condition of the house, if there were signs of struggles, or how long the family lived there. Laptop computers, digital phones and social media will be analyzed in the next several weeks, said Molloy.
Molloy said police have had difficulty contacting family members to update them on the medical examiner's findings.
"Our hearts go out to the family members of these victims," Molloy said.
Molloy said police received information from the family that the couple had been experiencing marital troubles and considering divorce, but that they were still living in the home.
The couple filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy Dec. 23 and had their first creditors' meeting scheduled for this week.
According to bankruptcy filings, Mark Schons had been operating a now-defunct party-supply company called Party Central off Grand River Avenue in Genoa Township, but had no income for 2010 and had been collecting unemployment. Police said he had also worked as a computer programmer in Lansing.
According to the records, his wife was a paint engineer for General Motors Co. who made $90,000 last year.
The couple owned their home, bought in 2008 for $420,000, but in recent years had run up more than $220,000 in debt, much of it on credit cards, and the bankruptcy filing listed their mortgage at $370,000.
Neighbors described a family that kept to themselves.
Martina Stone, 46, lives across the street from the Schonses. Her 14-year-old daughter baby-sat for their 4- and 6-year-old boys occasionally. She described inviting the Schonses over after the family moved into the neighborhood a couple of years ago.
"Mark was sociable then. Then last summer, he was really quiet," she said. "Jenn's really nice; she seemed perfectly normal."
Tynan and Camden were "perfect little boys," she said.
Stone said the Schonses would occasionally invite her family over to swim in their in-ground pool.
Molloy said Mark Schons has no documented criminal history, and that the Novi police have had no previous contact with any of the victims.
Justa Bojovick, who also lives nearby the Schons family, said she wished Mark Schons had brought his family to her house instead of hurting them.
"You didn't have to kill them," she said.
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