Sheriff: 3 Dead In Apparent Murder-Suicide In Andover
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A mother and father are dead after police say their son shot them in their own home before turning the gun on himself.
Officers were called to the family's home in Andover Wednesday night for a welfare check after a neighbor had not seen the family for a few days.
Police discovered the bodies inside. Authorities have identified the three as 69-year-old Karen Regnier, 58-year-old Brian Regnier and 27-year-old Aaron Regnier.
"She was one of those people everybody liked," said Wilson Roberts, a friend of Karen.
Roberts says Karen was an accomplished keyboard player and vocalist. She had been part of the 1960s and 70s group called Podipto, who performed with artists like Elton John, Linda Ronstadt and The Carpenters.
"Hard worker, very down to earth, had a smile and a good word for everybody," Wilson said.
Court documents show Aaron was civilly committed for six months in 2015 after getting into an argument with his father over getting treatment for alcoholism. He also had a history of depression and "hit walls, broke furniture and bit his father."
"The sheriff's office has been there before," said Anoka County Sheriff's Office Cmdr. Paul Sommer. "Certainly not a lot of times, but we had been there for, you know, some domestic disturbance type of things."
The court then granted an additional three month stay of civil commitment, noting Aaron was "likely to physically harm his self or others." That outcome proved tragically true.
"Despite all of the challenges that Aaron presented for them, they were very supportive and ... they wanted the best for him," Cmdr. Sommer said.
Aaron also had a criminal history that included possession of child pornography.
His death and the death of his parents is still under investigation.