Thomas Mangiantini, the father of two that killed his wife and two sons before turning the gun on himself, didn’t leave many clues explaining the distress that led him to commit such a heinous crime. Investigators, however, found a single page note but will not release its contents until family members are notified. They did say that the suicide note left the impression that the man was somewhat distraught.
The police also stated that the reasons did not include financial problems or marital distress, but did not add any further details. Mrs. Mangiantini had lost her job at Ford Motor Company, and there were rumors that her husband’s hours had been cut, or he had been laid off. Police refuted both rumors, stating that neither one was true.
According to police, the note “was just a few short words…something to the effect of ‘please help me. Help me. Help me.'”
The boys were found upstairs in their beds in a shared bedroom. Thomas Mangiantini also was found in an upstairs bedroom, and his wife was discovered in a hallway downstairs. The Addison Police Department is still investigating the scene, confident that a solid motive will be revealed.
In an unrelated case, a West Chicago man shot his new wife, and then turned the gun on himself. The couple were almost married for two months, marrying on October 10.
Antwone Coleman, age 28, was found Thursday night near 3300 West Monroe, a couple blocks from his home. During the investigation, they found the body of his wife, Claudette, aged 30, in the couple’s Garfield Park Apartment. Police surmised that her death had been caused by a gunshot wound to the head, but the coroner later found that she had died of multiple gunshot wounds. Antwone Coleman’s autopsy revealed that he committed suicide, a single gunshot wound to the head.
Antwone Coleman had a lengthy criminal record that included domestic battery, aggravated battery on a police officer and was registered as a sex offender. Claudette’s family did not know about the criminal record, and were not certain that Claudette had any knowledge of his crimes.
The third deadly event took place in Sauk Village where police are investigating the third murder-suicide in the Chicago area in recent days. Markham resident Paul Gunn of West 159th Street allegedly killed himself following a police stop to question him over shootings in Sauk Village. The shooting victims were Gunn’s ex-wife and her unidentified male friend.
Mr. Gunn’s ex-wife survived, but was hospitalized. Her male friend died in the hospital. Gunn’s ex-wife is reported to be in stable condition with non-lethal injuries.
