Murder-Suicide Archives - MICHAEL O. ALLEN

AUTOPSY CONFIRMS MURDER, SUICIDE

By michael o. allenHomepage, The RecordNo Comments

MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Sunday, May 10, 1992

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | A03

Investigators have ruled that the death of a Fort Lee man and his 5-year-old daughter was a murder-suicide, Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy said Saturday.

Raif Gandell, 42, shot his daughter, Kira Gandell, twice in the head before shooting himself through the mouth, Fahy said. The bodies were discovered about 8:05 a.m. Friday on the bed with a .32-caliber automatic handgun between them.

Fahy said an autopsy indicated the two died between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m.

Gandell and his wife, Jill Markowitz, of the Half Moon House Apartments at 2400 Hudson Terrace were in marriage counseling and he had been depressed over the marital problems, Fahy said.

A baby sitter reporting for work the next morning could not enter the apartment because the door was latched with a chain from the inside. However, she found a note from Gandell underneath the door telling her what he had done, and saying that she should call the police.

Markowitz, who was out of state on a business trip, was informed of the deaths Friday. She returned home that day, but could not be reached for comment. Gandell was a medical social worker at Englewood Hospital.

May 10, 1992

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FT. LEE DAD KILLS CHILD, 5, AND SELF

By michael o. allenHomepage, The RecordNo Comments

By Michael O. Allen and Steven Crabill, Record Staff Writers | Saturday, May 9, 1992

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | A01

A Fort Lee man reportedly depressed over marital problems shot and killed his 5-year-old daughter sometime before dawn Friday, then turned the gun on himself, Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy said.

Kira Gandell was shot twice in the head and Raif Gandell, 42, once in the mouth, Fahy said.

Gandell and his wife, Jill Markowitz, of 2400 Hudson Terrace had been in marriage counseling for some time, Fahy added.

Police found the bodies of Gandell and his daughter on a bed in the family’s second-floor apartment at the Half-Moon House Apartments at 8:05 a.m. A maid-babysitter saw a note beneath the door when she arrived for work but could not enter because a chain on the door was latched from the inside, Fahy said.

A worker at the building said and authorities confirmed that the note said: “Call the police. I killed myself and Kira.”

Police battered down the door and found the bodies on the bed, Fahy said. A .32-caliber automatic pistol was between them.

Markowitz, in Seattle on a business trip, was notified and was returning Friday, Fahy said.

Authorities did not know how long the couple had been married.

Kira was their only child, Fahy said.

Gandell had been employed at Englewood Hospital as a medical social worker counseling patients in need of community services or extended care after leaving the hospital since March 1991, said Shelley Rosenstock, director of communications at the hospital.

May 9, 1992

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