THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 19, 1995 TAG: 9507190401
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK AND MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
Detectives investigating the slaying of two teenage children by their father, who then killed himself, said Tuesday they have no idea what triggered the shootings Monday in the Greenbrier community.
Neither do the family's neighbors.
``Every time I saw them together they were very loving,'' David H. Polston said of the Smith family. ``There didn't seem to be any trouble or malice. . . about the situation.''
Late Monday, police found the bodies of 40-year-old David M. Smith, 15-year-old Eric, and 13-year-old Amy all shot to death in a duplex in the 1100 block of Shoal Creek Trail in The Fairways section of the city.
Kimberly Smith, the children's mother and David Smith's wife, found the bodies when she returned home from work at 6 p.m. Monday.
Police said David Smith, an insurance adjuster, shot his children and himself with a small-caliber revolver. He had left work Monday shortly after 11 a.m., police spokesman Dick Black said.
Neighbors said David Smith had an appointment with a physician at noon Monday, but they were uncertain whether he went. Police said the shootings occurred between noon and 6 p.m.
Black said detectives haven't uncovered evidence of domestic, legal or financial problems.
Neighbors did say David Smith had an unspecified medical problem and was taking several prescription drugs.
Police have ordered a toxicology report, but results of that test won't be available for several weeks.
``If you knew David, you just can't imagine how a thing like this happened,'' said neighbor Lennie Showalter. ``Just no way. He adored his children.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
LAWRENCE JACKSON/Staff
After the deaths Monday, forensics investigators work on the second
floor of the home in the 1100 block of Shoal Creek Trail in
Chesapeake. There, David M. Smith, 40, killed his children, Eric,
15, and Amy, 13, before he killed himself.
KEYWORDS: MURDER SUICIDE SHOOTING by CNB