By Nathan Koppel and Laura Stevens
A suspect who allegedly shot and killed six family members
Wednesday in a Houston suburb was believed to be searching for his
divorced wife who was related to the victims, according to new
details from authorities.
Posing as a parcel delivery driver, alleged gunman Ronald Lee
Haskell, 33 years old, entered the Spring, Texas home of Stephen
and Katie Stay on Wednesday. Photos of his arrest at the scene
showed he wore a black and purple shirt that resembled those
assigned to FedEx Ground drivers.
Mr. Haskell was believed to have been searching for his former
wife, Melanie Kaye Haskell, who is a relative of the Stay family,
according to Harris County Constable Ron Hickman. He added Mr.
Haskell's ex-wife and his children evidently had traveled to the
Houston area, but offered no other details about them.
Mr. Haskell allegedly opened fire on the Stay family, killing
the parents, Stephen and Katie Stay, and four of their children,
Mr. Hickman said. One of the Stay children, a 15-year-old girl, was
shot and "played dead," waiting for the gunman to leave her home
before she called 911, according to authorities. Mr. Haskell was
later arrested and detained after a multi-hour standoff.
"I've never seen a situation where a person has killed so many
members of a family," said Mr. Hickman, who called it the worst
such crime he could recall in his 43 years of police work.
The 15 year old is in critical condition at a Houston hospital,
according to a spokesman with the Harris County Sheriff's
office.
She was able to tell police that Mr. Haskell allegedly intended
to travel to another family member's house in the area and "cause
additional harm," the spokesman said.
Mr. Haskell has been charged with capital murder and is
scheduled to make his initial court appearance on Friday. He had
not yet entered a plea in the case nor been assigned an attorney as
of Thursday afternoon.
Mr. Haskell finalized a divorce with his ex-wife earlier this
year. A protective order was filed against Mr. Haskell in Cache
County Court in Utah by Mrs. Haskell on July 8, 2013, according to
court documents. During the court proceedings, Mr. Haskell
continued to have supervised parenting time pending a Department of
Children and Family Services investigation, according to the
documents.
A Logan City Police Department spokesman said Mr. Haskell was
arrested in June 2008 for domestic assault and domestic assault in
front of a child. He was released the next day, after entering a
plea in abeyance, the spokesman said--a deal that allows for
criminal charges to be dismissed if a defendant meets conditions
imposed by a court. Police also responded to a complaint from his
wife in October that Mr. Haskell showed up at their children's
school.
In October, the Haskells entered into a mutual restraining order
as part of their divorce, according to the court document. The
agreement gave Ms. Haskell primary custody of the children. Mr.
Haskell's time with his children would be supervised "until such
time that his physical therapist can report that the respondent is
no longer a threat to the children." He also agreed to pay $773 in
child support monthly.
Mr. Haskell previously worked as a FedEx Corp. driver in Logan,
Utah, and the company identified him as a top finisher at the 2013
Utah State Truck Driving Championship in a news release on its
website.
"Our heartfelt thoughts and condolences go out to all those
involved in this tragic incident. Mr. Haskell formerly provided
service for FedEx, but has not done so since January," FedEx said
in a statement.
FedEx Ground doesn't directly employ its drivers, instead using
an independent contractor system. Mr. Logan was a driver for Klien
P&D Inc. according to the FedEx news release. Ricky Klien of
Klien P&D declined to comment.
A Facebook page that appeared to belong to Mr. Haskell showed a
photo of a clean-shaven man posing with a woman and three children,
as well as one of him strapping a little girl into rock climbing
gear. It says he attended Chugiak High School in Alaska and lives
in Logan, Utah.
Lisa Schwartz contributed to this article
Write to Nathan Koppel at nathan.koppel@wsj.com and Laura
Stevens at laura.stevens@wsj.com
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