The Hindu : Front Page : NRI kills family, self after stock market collapse

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Wednesday, Oct 08, 2008
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NRI kills family, self after stock market collapse

LOS ANGELES: The financial crisis in the U.S. has claimed a whole Indian family of six when an unemployed NRI killed his wife, three sons and his mother-in-law before fatally shooting himself, after suffering serious losses in the stock market collapse.

Karthik Rajaram (45), who once made more than $1.2 million in a London-based venture fund, was found dead in his Porter Ranch home here along with his 70-year-old mother-in-law, wife Subasri (39), and three sons Krishna (19), Ganesha (12) and Arjuna (7).

Authorities believe Mr. Rajaram, an MBA, killed his family and himself after seeing his finances wiped out by the stock market collapse, Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday.

“To us it appears to be a financial stake, a crisis situation that this man became embroiled in over the past few weeks,” police said.

On September 16, Mr. Rajaram bought a gun. He wrote two suicide notes and a last will and testament.

And then, sometime between Saturday night and last morning, he killed his family members and took his own life.

“This is a perfect American family behind me that has absolutely been destroyed, apparently because of a man who just got stuck in a rabbit hole,” said Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Michel Moore.

In a letter to the police, Mr. Rajaram blamed his actions on economic hardships.

A second letter, labelled “personal and confidential,” was addressed to family friends and the third contained the last will and testament. — PTI

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