An unemployed finance graduate plagued by money problems has shot dead his wife, three children and mother-in-law before turning the gun on himself in Los Angeles.
Police found the bodies Sunday, but the killings happened sometime after Saturday evening. A handgun was found in the father's grasp.
Karthik Rajaram, 45, left two suicide notes - one for police and one for friends and relatives - and a will. The family was originally from India.
"The source of it appears to be a financial state, a crisis if you will, that this man became embroiled in that has unfolded over the past weeks," police spokesman Michel Moore said.
The man wrote in his suicide letter that he felt he had two options - to kill himself, or to kill himself and his family - and decided the second option was more honourable, Moore said.
Officers found the mother-in-law, Indra Ramasesham, 69, dead in bed on the first floor. Upstairs, they found a 19-year-old son, Krishna Rajaram, dead in bed in the master bedroom.
The gunman's 39-year-old wife, Subasri, was found in another room, also apparently shot while sleeping, Moore said.
In an adjoining room, a 12-year-old son, Ganesha, was dead on the floor, and his seven-year-old brother, Arjuna, was dead in bed.
Their father's body was found there with a handgun "in his grasp," Moore said.
Coroner's assistant chief Ed Winter said the victims were shot multiple times.
Karthik Rajaram had a Masters of Business Administration in finance, formerly worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers and Sony Pictures, but had been unemployed for several months, Moore said.
Moore did not specify what financial trouble the man had been in. He noted that the family did not own the home.
But investigators have determined that Rajaram was at least the part-owner of a financial holding company, Moore said.
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