Texas Family Found Asphyxiated

January 27, 1999

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- A man accused of abusing his two sons died along with the boys, his wife and their dog in an old Chevy with a hose running from the exhaust pipe into the car.

Police are investigating the case as a murder-suicide after finding the family Tuesday. The parents were identified as Armando Nunez, 33, and Valree Nunez, 28, a sales clerk. Their children were Curtis, 7, and Robert, 4.

Molestation suspected in family deaths

January 27, 1999

FORT WORTH, Texas (UPI) Police are investigating the connection between the apparent murder-suicide of a family of four and allegations that the father was suspected of physically and sexually abusing his sons.

Child Protective Services spokeswoman Marleigh Meisner says a probe was launched on Jan. 11 after the alleged physical abuse came to their attention. The boys also told CPS workers they were sexually molested by their father.

The bodies of Armando Jose Nunez, his wife, Valree Lea Nunez, and their two young sons were found Tuesday inside the family car with a hose leading from the tailpipe to the interior.

Texas family found dead

Authorities suspect that a suicide pack between a married couple led to the death of Armando Nunez, his wife Valree, their two sons Curtis, 7, and Robert, 4, and the family dog.

The whole group was found on January 27, 1999, inside the family Chevy that was parked behind the new duplex where they lived, on a hill in a blue-collar Fort Worth neighborhood.

Police found freshly used hamburger wrappers, a bottle of whiskey and cigarettes inside the car. There were pillows in the back for the children.

Police say when they arrived, the family car was covered with a tarp. Under the tarp, police found a hose attached to the cars muffler and it ran into the window of the car.

Richard Carlberg of the Fort Worth Police Department says, "Momma wasnt forced in there. They were drinking and smoking cigarettes and there was no sign of trauma or she was forced or held in there." Police suspect Valree was with Armando Monday when he bought a tarp and the hose that would carry carbon monoxide into the car and kill the family of four.

Neighbors said they didn't realize there was trouble in the family until Nunez's Jan. 11 arrest on an outstanding traffic warrant. That same day, state workers began investigating his sons' complaints that he had physically and sexually abused them. Marleigh Meissner, a spokeswoman for Child Protective Services, said Ms. Nunez kicked her unemployed husband out, sent the children to live with relatives and changed the locks on the house. Ms. Meissner said the investigation into the abuse charges had not been completed.

Problems surrounded the Nunez family. Child Protective Services was investigating them. CPS says it was investigating allegations the boys father sexually and physically abused them. Caseworkers say the boys mother was cooperating. CPS spokesperson Marleigh Meisner says, "When she learned of sexual abuse allegations, she was horrified. She changed the locks on the doors. She ordered the husband to move out of the home."