Authorities have revealed how a family of three died Thursday night in a $5 million mansion in Massachusetts with no signs of a break-in.
The Norfolk District Attorney's Office announced Tuesday that investigators determined the tragedy that claimed the lives of Rakesh, Teena Kamal, and their teenage daughter Arianna was the result of a murder-suicide.
Rakesh Kamal, 57, is believed to have shot and killed his 54-year-old wife, Teena, and their 18-year-old daughter, Ariana, before turning the gun on himself inside their sprawling Dover home, prosecutors said. According to NBC Boston.
A .40 caliber Glock 22, which was not registered to Rakesh, was recovered at the scene, officials said.
District Attorney Michael Morrissey previously described the couple's deaths as a “domestic violence situation” and said there was no evidence that outside parties were involved, as a gun was found near the husband's body.
But prosecutors would not label the tragedy a murder-suicide, or even confirm that the three people had been shot, until the medical examiner conducted an autopsy.
Relatives learned the horrifying truth on the Thursday after Christmas when they stopped by the 11-bed, 13-bathroom home to check on the family, unable to contact any of them. The mansion, worth an estimated $5.45 million, still had Christmas lights up the next day, even as police cars blocked the entrance.
The couple's daughter, a freshman studying neuroscience at Middlebury College in Vermont, was home on winter break at the time of the murder.
Records reviewed by the Post show that the Kamals were facing financial difficulties even before their suicide.
Their sprawling 19,000-square-foot home was foreclosed on a year ago and sold to Massachusetts-based Wilsondale Associates LLC for $3 million, according to property records.
Records show the family bought the home in 2019 for $4 million.
Teena (who previously ran an education systems company called Edunova with her husband) also filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy in September 2022, posting debts of between $1 million and $10 million. This was revealed in the submitted documents. However, the case was dismissed two months later due to insufficient evidence.
EduNova was launched in 2016 but disbanded in December 2021, according to state records.
Morrissey said the family had no prior reports of domestic problems.
“This is extremely unfortunate and my heart goes out to the entire Kamal family about this terrible tragedy,” he said at his first press conference.
“It's always disgusting to see,” Morrissey added of domestic violence incidents. “I think some of the tension that people feel in their relationships often comes out around the holidays.”
If you or someone you know is at risk of domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or Safe Horizon at 1-800-621-HOPE please.
