Friends: Claire Randall, woman slain by ex-chaplain dad, was gifted musician
HEBRON, Maine — Friends and acquaintances of a woman killed by her ex-chaplain father in an apparent murder-suicide in Maine say she was a gifted musician who was passionate about domestic violence prevention and substance abuse treatment.
Police say former chaplain Daniel Randall bought a shotgun last week after completing treatment for substance abuse, then drove to the home of his estranged family in Hebron, where he killed 27-year-old Claire Randall and then turned the gun on himself.
The Portland Press Herald reports Claire Randall lived in Brooklyn, New York, and wrote and sang for various music groups.
She was valedictorian at her Rhode Island high school and later earned a music degree from Wesleyan University in Connecticut.
In a joint statement released to CBS affiliate WGME by friends of Claire Randall, she was described as “a feminist, passionate about social justice, and never afraid to speak her mind.”
The Portland Press Herald reported Daniel Randall’s wife, who is Claire Randall’s mother, had recently served him divorce papers and was staying with family out of town when she asked a neighbor to check on Claire. The neighbor discovered a gruesome scene and told the paper he saw spray-painted messages police say were scrawled by Daniel Randall to his family.