After murder-suicide, cops to review 1993 cliff-fall death of ex-minister's 1st wife
HEBRON, Maine - State police investigating a murder-suicide involving a former minister plan to review reports about the 1993 death of the shooter’s first wife in Maine, officials said Wednesday.
Investigators said Daniel Randall drove to the home of his estranged family in Hebron, Maine, and killed his daughter, 27-year-old Claire Randall, before turning the gun on himself.
The killings on Dec. 8 prompted detectives to ask Cape Elizabeth police and the state medical examiner’s office for reports on the death of Randall’s first wife, Greta Randall. Her death was ruled an accident after she fell off a cliff at Two Lights State Park 23 years ago.
CBS affiliate WGME reports that Greta Randall was six months pregnant at the time she died and that her unborn son died the next day.
Police say they have no plans to reopen the investigation of Greta Randall’s death at the moment, but want to review the investigative reports.
Randall, an Iowa native, was working at the First Parish Congregational Church in Saco when his first wife died during a Fourth of July weekend outing.
He took a two-month leave of absence before leaving the church in early 1994 and moving to Arizona. There he met his second wife, Anita, before returning to New England. The two were estranged at the time of the shooting, and Anita had filed for a divorce.
Daniel Randall had reportedly scrawled messages to his family in spray-paint around the home before the killings.
Police said they’ve determined where Daniel Randall purchased the shotgun used in the killings but declined to release the gun shop’s name.