Saturday, Nov. 07, 2009

Man who killed family said he would get help

RALEIGH, N.C. -- A Fayetteville real estate developer was monitoring phone calls out of fear someone was trying to track him and showed other signs of mental illness, but agreed to get help hours before he killed his wife, two teenage children and himself, his pastor said Friday.

William Maxwell Jr. admitted to irrational thoughts and that he had trouble identifying family members by name, the Rev. John Cook said Friday during a funeral at Snyder Memorial Baptist Church in Fayetteville attended by about 1,000.

Cook said he was among a group of friends and family who gathered at the Maxwell home Monday afternoon to encourage William Maxwell to seek help, and that Maxwell agreed. Hours later, he killed his family and turned a gun on himself, police said.

"All of us, even those closest to Billy, did not know just how sick he was," Cook said. "We had every indication there would be a Tuesday."

Meanwhile, police were probing why it took more than an hour after a chilling emergency call that captured the sound of a gunshot before officers were dispatched to the Maxwell home.

"As for the reason for the delay, this is an internal matter that we are currently investigating and will take the appropriate course of action," Fayetteville Police Department spokeswoman Theresa Chance said Friday in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

The first of two 911 calls to police was received at 6:38 p.m. Monday. It captured someone quietly moaning before a gunshot erupts. The call came from a landline telephone in the home, Chance said. A 911 operator is heard trying in vain to get someone to speak.

"We tried to contact that number with no response, but in fact [received] a busy signal each time we called," Chance said. "We finally left a message on the voice mail at the home. From there, we are investigating the events that took place on our end."

The police department's standard operational guideline for handling abandoned 911 calls states: "Remember, when doubt exists on whether to send a unit or not - send it!"

Chance did not respond to questions about whether the police department was equipped with an enhanced 911 communications system, which automatically captures a caller's number and address, as well as the closest police unit that can respond.

Chance said officers were ordered to the scene nine minutes before a second 911 call at 8:01 p.m. from a man who identified himself as John Fox reporting bodies and blood visible through a window. The family obituaries identify John Fox as the father of Maxwell's wife, Kathryn.

Chance did not say when officers arrived at the scene.

Police said Maxwell shot and killed his wife, Kathryn, 43, and their two teenage children. The parents' bodies were found in the kitchen of their upscale home, along with that of their son, 15-year-old Cameron; daughter Connor, 17, was found in an upstairs bedroom.

While the delayed police response may be embarrassing, officers are duty-bound to protect the general public from crime rather than thwarting specific incidents, said Jeff Welty, a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Government who works with attorneys for police departments.

"When law enforcement fails to prevent a crime, they usually don't incur legal liability," he said.