Father fatally stabs teen son before turning knife on himself
HARRISBURG, Ore.- A small memorial flickers on the driveway of the Stout family torn apart by murder-suicide Wednesday morning.
The Linn County Sheriff's office says Darwin D. Stout stabbed his teenage son Jared and then stabbed himself.
Thursday, the state medical examiner determined both father and son died of knife wounds.
Authorities say LaMae Stout, the mother and wife, came home from work Wednesday night and discovered the bodies.
Linn County deputies and detectives served a search warrant on the Stout house Wednesday night and continued to investigate Thursday.
It's now an agonizing reality for neighbors who never saw this kind of violence coming.
"We got great neighbors and a quiet town and something like this just does not happen," said neighbor Maggie Cooley.
Cooley says her son was friends with Jared, a freshman at Harrisburg High School.
"It's hard. I mean it's not something you want to have to go through just before Christmas or anytime," said Cooley who checked on LaMae Stout immediately after finding out what happened.
Like Cooley, neighbor Josh Davis also has kids. He moved his wife and sons into the community two months ago.
Davis said he was shocked that this would happen in a neighborhood so full of children.
"I think just about every house on the block has kids," said Davis. "We're always seeing their bikes."
For now, neighbors like Cooley say they're just trying to figure out how a tragedy like this could happen to such a nice kid.
"Before going to bed last night... went back in each of my kids' room and gave them both a kiss and told them how much I loved them," said Cooley. "Because you don't know when the last time will be."
The Linn County Sheriff's office says Darwin D. Stout stabbed his teenage son Jared and then stabbed himself.
Thursday, the state medical examiner determined both father and son died of knife wounds.
Authorities say LaMae Stout, the mother and wife, came home from work Wednesday night and discovered the bodies.
Linn County deputies and detectives served a search warrant on the Stout house Wednesday night and continued to investigate Thursday.
It's now an agonizing reality for neighbors who never saw this kind of violence coming.
"We got great neighbors and a quiet town and something like this just does not happen," said neighbor Maggie Cooley.
Cooley says her son was friends with Jared, a freshman at Harrisburg High School.
"It's hard. I mean it's not something you want to have to go through just before Christmas or anytime," said Cooley who checked on LaMae Stout immediately after finding out what happened.
Like Cooley, neighbor Josh Davis also has kids. He moved his wife and sons into the community two months ago.
Davis said he was shocked that this would happen in a neighborhood so full of children.
"I think just about every house on the block has kids," said Davis. "We're always seeing their bikes."
For now, neighbors like Cooley say they're just trying to figure out how a tragedy like this could happen to such a nice kid.
"Before going to bed last night... went back in each of my kids' room and gave them both a kiss and told them how much I loved them," said Cooley. "Because you don't know when the last time will be."
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