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Police: School killer told wife he molested family members
(CNN) -- Pennsylvania schoolhouse killer Charles Carl Roberts IV said he molested minor family members 20 years ago and was dreaming about molesting again, police said Tuesday.
Roberts' assault Monday killed five girls and wounded five others, police said, before he killed himself. Police have been trying to determine the motive behind the attack by talking to family members and analyzing suicide notes.
Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Jeffrey Miller said Roberts may have targeted the school for its girl students and -- given the various items found in the school -- intended to molest the children.
He said KY Jelly lubricant was found in the schoolhouse where the assault occurred but there is no evidence that the victims were sexually assaulted in any way.
"It's very possible, when he talks about doing the things and having dreams for the last two years about doing things that he did 20 years ago ... he perhaps planned, with the kind of wood and eyebolts and flex cuffs and KY Jelly and other things, it's very possible that he intended to victimize these children in many ways prior to executing them and killing himself," Miller said.
Roberts also said he was mad at God for the death of his premature baby, Elise, born nine years ago, Miller said.
Miller said Roberts called his wife Monday morning and said, "'I am not coming home. The police are here.'"
Then Miller said Roberts stated, "'I molested some minor family members, family members that were 3 or 4 years old, 20 years ago.'"
"Roberts mentioned in his suicide note that he was having dreams of molesting again," Miller said.
Miller said both sides of Roberts' family were interviewed, including his parents, and his wife, and they said they had no knowledge of any molestation by Roberts affecting any family member or anyone else.
Two of the girls died overnight from gunshot wounds suffered in the assault by the 32-year-old truck driver on students at the tiny farmland school in southeastern Pennsylvania. At least five other girls remain hospitalized.
Co-workers said Roberts had stopped chatting and joking in recent days.
The commercial milk truck driver lived in nearby Bart, Pennsylvania, with his wife and three children.
Roberts barricaded himself in the schoolhouse with a 9 mm pistol, a shotgun and a bolt-action rifle -- and more than 600 rounds of ammunition, police said. In another sign that Roberts was prepared for a long standoff, he also brought a roll of toilet paper, police said. He had no known criminal history, said Miller. (Watch the arsenal that Roberts brought to the school -- 2:23)
During the attack, Roberts released 15 boys and three women with infants and then told remaining female students to line up in front of the blackboard, Miller said. Roberts then tied the girls' feet together, Miller said. A teacher who was released was able to alert authorities, Miller said, and police rushed to the school.
13-year-old victim's condition upgraded
Two girls critically injured in the attack died early Tuesday, hospital and state police officials told CNN. The other three victims -- two girls and a teenager -- died soon after the attack, Miller said. (Watch what happened in schoolhouse, community's reaction -- 2:21 )
At Hershey Medical Center, a 6-year-old girl remained in critical condition Tuesday and a 13-year-old girl was upgraded from critical to serious condition, said hospital spokesman Sean Young.
Families of both girls were maintaining a vigil at their hospital bedsides and the 13-year-old was "exchanging non-verbal communication" or "eye-communication" with her family, said another spokesman, Matt Wayne.
"There is reason for optimism, but at the same time it would be conjecture to say she's out of the woods, so to speak," Young said.
Three patients -- ages 8, 10, and 12 -- remain in critical condition at Philadelphia's Children's Hospital, officials told CNN early Tuesday.
Wife: 'Not the Charlie I've been married to''
On Monday, a man who said he was a friend of the Roberts family, Dwight Lefever, read a statement attributed to the gunman's wife, Marie Roberts, according to CNN affiliate WGAL.
"The man that did this today was not the Charlie I've been married to for almost 10 years. My husband was loving, supportive, thoughtful. All the things you'd always want and more. He was an exceptional father," the statement said.
A White House spokesperson said the president was "deeply saddened and troubled by the recent school violence" and that the administration would convene a conference on the subject next week.
It was the nation's third deadly school shooting in a week, following the killing of a 16-year-old girl by a 53-year-old man in Bailey, Colorado, and the shooting death of a principal at a school in Madison, Wisconsin.
CNN.com - Police: School killer told wife he molested family members - Oct 3, 2006
(CNN) -- Pennsylvania schoolhouse killer Charles Carl Roberts IV said he molested minor family members 20 years ago and was dreaming about molesting again, police said Tuesday.
Roberts' assault Monday killed five girls and wounded five others, police said, before he killed himself. Police have been trying to determine the motive behind the attack by talking to family members and analyzing suicide notes.
Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Jeffrey Miller said Roberts may have targeted the school for its girl students and -- given the various items found in the school -- intended to molest the children.
He said KY Jelly lubricant was found in the schoolhouse where the assault occurred but there is no evidence that the victims were sexually assaulted in any way.
"It's very possible, when he talks about doing the things and having dreams for the last two years about doing things that he did 20 years ago ... he perhaps planned, with the kind of wood and eyebolts and flex cuffs and KY Jelly and other things, it's very possible that he intended to victimize these children in many ways prior to executing them and killing himself," Miller said.
Roberts also said he was mad at God for the death of his premature baby, Elise, born nine years ago, Miller said.
Miller said Roberts called his wife Monday morning and said, "'I am not coming home. The police are here.'"
Then Miller said Roberts stated, "'I molested some minor family members, family members that were 3 or 4 years old, 20 years ago.'"
"Roberts mentioned in his suicide note that he was having dreams of molesting again," Miller said.
Miller said both sides of Roberts' family were interviewed, including his parents, and his wife, and they said they had no knowledge of any molestation by Roberts affecting any family member or anyone else.
Two of the girls died overnight from gunshot wounds suffered in the assault by the 32-year-old truck driver on students at the tiny farmland school in southeastern Pennsylvania. At least five other girls remain hospitalized.
Co-workers said Roberts had stopped chatting and joking in recent days.
The commercial milk truck driver lived in nearby Bart, Pennsylvania, with his wife and three children.
Roberts barricaded himself in the schoolhouse with a 9 mm pistol, a shotgun and a bolt-action rifle -- and more than 600 rounds of ammunition, police said. In another sign that Roberts was prepared for a long standoff, he also brought a roll of toilet paper, police said. He had no known criminal history, said Miller. (Watch the arsenal that Roberts brought to the school -- 2:23)
During the attack, Roberts released 15 boys and three women with infants and then told remaining female students to line up in front of the blackboard, Miller said. Roberts then tied the girls' feet together, Miller said. A teacher who was released was able to alert authorities, Miller said, and police rushed to the school.
13-year-old victim's condition upgraded
Two girls critically injured in the attack died early Tuesday, hospital and state police officials told CNN. The other three victims -- two girls and a teenager -- died soon after the attack, Miller said. (Watch what happened in schoolhouse, community's reaction -- 2:21 )
At Hershey Medical Center, a 6-year-old girl remained in critical condition Tuesday and a 13-year-old girl was upgraded from critical to serious condition, said hospital spokesman Sean Young.
Families of both girls were maintaining a vigil at their hospital bedsides and the 13-year-old was "exchanging non-verbal communication" or "eye-communication" with her family, said another spokesman, Matt Wayne.
"There is reason for optimism, but at the same time it would be conjecture to say she's out of the woods, so to speak," Young said.
Three patients -- ages 8, 10, and 12 -- remain in critical condition at Philadelphia's Children's Hospital, officials told CNN early Tuesday.
Wife: 'Not the Charlie I've been married to''
On Monday, a man who said he was a friend of the Roberts family, Dwight Lefever, read a statement attributed to the gunman's wife, Marie Roberts, according to CNN affiliate WGAL.
"The man that did this today was not the Charlie I've been married to for almost 10 years. My husband was loving, supportive, thoughtful. All the things you'd always want and more. He was an exceptional father," the statement said.
A White House spokesperson said the president was "deeply saddened and troubled by the recent school violence" and that the administration would convene a conference on the subject next week.
It was the nation's third deadly school shooting in a week, following the killing of a 16-year-old girl by a 53-year-old man in Bailey, Colorado, and the shooting death of a principal at a school in Madison, Wisconsin.
CNN.com - Police: School killer told wife he molested family members - Oct 3, 2006