Indian-origin techie suspected in US family murder-suicide

Henry and Alice Priyanka Benziger, in their late thirties, found dead in their $2.1 million Alameda de las Pulgas home with gunshot wounds.

New York: Indian-American former Meta engineer Anand Henry has been identified as a suspect in a murder-suicide involving himself, his wife and their four-year-old twins in the US state of California, the police said.

Henry and his wife Alice Priyanka Benziger, both in their late thirties, were found dead inside a bathroom of their $2.1 million Alameda de las Pulgas home with gunshot wounds on Monday.

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A 9mm handgun legally registered to Henry was located on the bathroom floor where both adults’ bodies were located.

“Based on the shared investigation to date between the San Mateo Police Department, the San Mateo County Crime Lab, and the San Mateo County Coroner’s Office, Anand Henry has been identified as the suspect,” the San Mateo Police Department said in a statement on Thursday.

The police, who entered the house through an unlocked window, also found the bodies of two children inside a bedroom with no signs of trauma.

According to investigations, Benziger succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds, while Henry suffered from a single shot.

“The cause of death for the minor boys is still pending pathology, but we can confirm they did not die from gunfire or show signs of bodily trauma,” the police said.

Confirming the identities of the deceased, police added that their next of kin have been notified.

“The adults’ identities have been confirmed via fingerprints and the boys have been identified via familial visual identification,” the police statement said.

Police ruled out any history of violence at the home, and outside of the context of this incident, saying that investigations into the motive for this tragedy will continue.

The cops had earlier responded to the home on reports of a mountain lion in the yard in 2020.

Anand’s LinkedIn profile identified him as a former Software Engineering Manager at Meta and Google.

After leaving his position at Meta in June last year, he founded his own artificial intelligence company, Logits.

According to court records, he filed for divorce in December 2016 but did not go through with it.

Neighbours said the ‘friendly’ couple had lived in the home for more than four years and seemed like a happy family.