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Charles
L. DALTON Sr.
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics:
Parricide
Number of victims: 3
Date of murders:
September 24,
2009
Date of birth: 1971
Victims profile: His
wife, Jennifer A. Dalton, 37, their son, Charles L. Dalton Jr.,
14, and their daughter, Emmaline E. Dalton, 7
Method of murder:
Shooting
(.12 gauge pump shotgun)
Location: Mount
Airy, Maryland, USA
Status: Committed suicide by shooting himself the same day
Shocked Mt. Airy Community Reacts
To Murder-Suicide
Preliminary Information Indicates Family Had
Financial Problems
Wbaltv.com
September
25, 2009
A shocked Frederick County community
is reacting to a murder-suicide involving a family of four.
Flowers and signs mark the place where police
said Charles L. Dalton Sr., 38, killed himself, his family and the
family dog.
Besides Dalton, the deceased are identified as
Dalton's wife, Jennifer A. Dalton, 37, their son, Charles L. Dalton Jr.,
14, and their daughter, Emmaline E. Dalton, 7. All four lived in a quad-level
home in the 300 block of Contour Road, Mt. Airy.
Investigators believe the murders and suicide
occurred between Thursday night and Friday morning. Jennifer Dalton
failed to report to work at her part-time job at a veterinary hospital
in Damascus. Fellow employees called her home and cell phone beginning
at 8:30 a.m. Friday, but received no answer.
Maryland State Police Spokesman Greg Shipley said
there is preliminary information indicating that the family may have
been experiencing financial difficulties. "That's part of what our
investigators are continuing to look into," said Shipley.
Neighbors described the couple as religious and kind.
Jack Gillespie told 11 News reporter Melissa Carlson that every time it
snowed, Dalton and his wife would come over and shovel his driveway.
"I would keep asking if I could pay, and Dalton kept
turning me down," said Gillespie.
Emmaline Dalton was in second grade at Twin Ridge
Elementary School. "Mama told me this morning that she was dead, and I
had tears coming down because she was one of the best persons I know,"
said friend Sarah Turton.
Charles Dalton Jr. was in ninth grade. He was a
junior firefighter at the Mt. Airy Volunteer Fire Company, the same
company that responded to the 911 call Friday night. "This is tough for
everybody," said Doug Alexander of the Mt. Airy Volunteer Fire
Department. "We brought together all the junior members of the company
along with their parents and brought in the critical incident stress
management team, which helps these people deal with the griveing process
and the healing process," said Alexander.
The four were identified Saturday during autopsies
conducted at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore. The
medical examiner said the cause of death for Jennifer Dalton and her two
children was murder. The cause of death for Charles Dalton Sr. was
suicide.
Investigators said Jennifer Dalton was found lying in
bed in the master bedroom. Charles Dalton Sr. was found lying next to
the bed. A .12-gauge pump shotgun was found next to his body. Troopers
have not found a suicide note.
Charles Dalton Jr. was found in bed in his bedroom.
Emmaline Dalton was found in her bed in a separate bedroom.
The preliminary investigation indicates Jennifer
Dalton and her two children were shot by her husband as they slept. Mr.
Dalton then used the same shotgun to commit suicide.
One of her co-workers stopped by the house at 2:15
p.m. Friday, but there was no answer at the door. Maryland State Police
spokesman Greg Shipley said Friday that a friend had seen a body through
a window and called police. Troopers found the two adults and two
children about 5:30 p.m. on Friday.
The family dog, a beagle, was also found dead. The
dog had been shot while in a crate inside the front door of the home.
Troopers learned Charles Dalton Sr. was self-employed
as a carpenter and cabinet maker. He also worked the night shift as a
maintenance worker for Montgomery County schools.
Police: Md. man killed wife, 2
children, then self
By David Dishneau - Associated Press
September 26, 2009
MOUNT AIRY, Md. (AP)—Authorities said they found four
members of a family slain Friday in a home in central Maryland, but they
said they were not searching for any suspects.
State troopers found the four—a man, a woman, a boy
and a girl—about 5:30 p.m., Maryland State Police spokesman Greg Shipley
said.
"Troopers who were inside say it obviously was a
murder scene," Shipley said. "Each body sustained trauma." He said it
was not clear how the injuries were inflicted.
Shipley said troopers had determined there was "no
further threat."
"We don't know what we have here," Shipley said
Friday night, adding that investigators have yet to look for evidence at
the scene. "We do not have an active search under way at this point."
Shipley said police were called to the home in Mount
Airy Friday afternoon by a concerned friend who had not heard from them
for a few days. The caller reported seeing a body through the window of
the split-level home.
A neighbor said a couple lived there with their son
and daughter.
The bodies were to be taken to the medical examiner's
office in Baltimore for autopsy.
Mount Airy is about 30 miles west of Baltimore.
UPDATE:
Maryland State Police say a man shot and killed
his wife and two children before turning the shotgun on himself.
State police announced the findings Saturday, one day
after the bodies of 38-year-old Charles and 37-year-old Jennifer Dalton
were found in their Mount Airy home. Their children were identified as
14-year-old Charles Jr. and 7-year-old Emmaline.
Police spokesman Greg Shipley says no suicide note
was found.
He says the preliminary investigation indicates that
Jennifer Dalton and the children were shot as they slept. The body of
Charles Dalton Sr. was found in the master bedroom next to the bed.
Four Found Dead Inside Mt. Airy
Home
Abc2news.com
September 27, 2009
A murder-suicide has been confirmed for the four
victims found dead inside a Mt. Airy home Saturday night.
The deceased are identified as Charles L. Dalton Sr.,
38, the husband and father, his wife, Jennifer A. Dalton, 37, their son,
Charles L. Dalton Jr., 14, and their daughter, Emmaline E. Dalton, 7.
The four were identified today during autopsies
conducted at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore. The
medical examiner determined each person died of a single gunshot wound
to the head.
The cause of death for Jennifer Dalton and her two
children was murder. The cause of death for Charles Dalton Sr. was
suicide.
Maryland State Police investigators and crime scene
technicians spent last night and most of the early morning hours today
processing the scene.
Investigators said Jennifer Dalton was found lying in
bed in the master bedroom. Charles Dalton Sr. was found lying next to
the bed. A .12 gauge pump shotgun was found next to his body. Troopers
have not found a suicide note.
Charles Dalton Jr. was found in bed in his bedroom.
Emmaline Dalton was found in her bed in a separate bedroom. The
preliminary investigation indicates Mrs. Dalton and her two children
were shot by her husband as they slept. Mr. Dalton then used the same
shotgun to commit suicide.
All four victims were shot in the head.
The family dog, a beagle, was also found dead. The
dog had been shot while in a crate inside the front door of the home.
Investigators believe the murders and suicide
occurred between Thursday night and Friday morning.
A motive for the murders has not been clearly
identified at this time.
Mrs. Dalton failed to report to work at her part-time
job at a veterinary hospital in Damascus. Fellow employees called her
home and cell phone beginning at 8:30 a.m. Friday, but received no
answer. One of Mrs. Dalton's co-workers stopped by the house at 2:15
p.m. Friday, but there was no answer at the door.
There was no school in Frederick County Friday.
Troopers learned Charles Dalton Sr. was self-employed
as a carpenter and cabinet maker. He also worked the night shift as a
maintenance worker for Montgomery County schools.
Emmaline Dalton was an elementary school student.
Charles Dalton Jr. was in ninth grade. He was a junior firefighter at
the Mt. Airy Volunteer Fire Company, the same company that responded to
his home yesterday.
Mt. Airy Deaths Update
Investigators are still determining how four people
died inside a home in Mt. Airy near the Carroll County line.
Troopers on the scene said it appeared to be a murder
scene, but State Police spokesman Greg Shipley says they are not
searching for any suspects. The victims are preliminarily identified
as one adult male, one adult female, one male child, and one female
child. Shipley says the four are believed to be part of one family.
The grim discovery was made at about 5:30 Friday
afternoon inside a home in the 300 block of Contour Road. A family
friend had gone to the home, concerned after not hearing from them for a
few days. State Police spokesman Greg Shipley says that friend went to
the back of the split-level home, looked in a window, saw what appeared
to be a body and called 911.
"Troopers who were inside say it obviously was a
murder scene," Shipley said. "Each body sustained trauma," but he said
it was not clear how the injuries were inflicted.
The house sits on a corner lot; there is a for sale
sign on the property.
According to the Maryland Department of Assessments
and Taxation's Web site, the property is owned by Charles and Jennifer
Dalton.
Neighbor Jan Gillespie said that the people who lived
there were Charles Dalton and his wife, whose name she did not know, and
children Chuck, about 13, and Emiline, about 7. She said the mother did
not work outside of the home, as far as she knew.
Gillespie said Charles Dalton had a cabinet business,
worked out of his home and had a work truck. A company called Imagine
Millwork has a Web site listing the home as its address.
Gillespie said the family moved there about two and a
half years ago and the house has been for sale for about a year.
She said the children seemed happy and she had not
seen any sign of trouble between the parents.
Another neighbor, Tom Watkins, said Charles Dalton "always
had a smile on his face and a nice wave." But Watkins said he did not
know the family personally.
In April, a man in Middletown in Frederick County
shot and killed his wife and three children before killing himself in
their home.
Mount Airy Man Kills Wife, 2 Children, Himself in
Home
By N.C. Aizenman - The Washington Post
Sunday,
September 27, 2009
Maryland State Police have determined that a family of four who were
found dead in their Frederick County home Friday were killed in a murder-suicide.
Police said a preliminary investigation indicated
that Charles L. Dalton Sr., 38, shot his wife, teenage son and young
daughter while they slept in their beds in the family's Mount Airy
house, then took his own life sometime between Thursday night and
early Friday morning.
An autopsy determined that Dalton's wife, Jennifer
Dalton, 37, the couple's son, Charles Jr., 14, and daughter, Emmaline,
7, each died of a single gunshot wound to the head. Police said Charles
Dalton was found shot dead next to the bed in the master bedroom, a 12-gauge
shotgun by his side. He had apparently also shot the family's dog, a
beagle, in its crate near the front door.
State troopers have not found a suicide note and have
not identified a motive for the killings.
According to police, Jennifer Dalton failed to show
up at her part-time job at a veterinary hospital in Damascus on Friday
morning. After attempting to reach her several times, one of her co-workers
stopped by the family's home in the 300 block of Contour Road in the
afternoon and noticed a body through a window.
Police and neighbors said that Charles Dalton was a
night maintenance worker for Montgomery County schools and that he ran
his own carpentry and cabinetmaking business. State records list the
business as Imagine Millwork, which Dun and Bradstreet describes as a
private company with two employees and estimated annual sales of
$400,000.
Charles Jr. was in the ninth grade at Linganore High
School and a junior firefighter at the Mount Airy Volunteer Fire Company,
the same company that responded to the Dalton home Friday, police and
neighbors said. Emmaline was a student at Twin Ridge Elementary,
according to neighbors.
State property records indicate that the Daltons
moved to the neighborhood from Olney in early 2005.
Jack Gillespie, 55, who lives next door, described
the Dalton children as cheerful and well-behaved and their parents as
friendly, church-going neighbors. Gillespie said Jennifer Dalton once
showed up with a batch of brownies and a smile after the Gillespie's
oven caught fire while they were trying to bake brownies.
"It's shocking," he said. "This is the last family
you would expect this of."
