Yesterday was a day of high drama for our neighbors to the west, after a Waynesboro man killed his in-laws, fled, holed himself up, and committed suicide as a tactical team closed in on him. The the News-Virginian, who followed the story throughout, reports that that Michael Lawson, aged 48, killed the grandfather and mother of his estranged wife, whose bodies were found Tuesday morning. Over fifty officers tried unsuccessfully to hunt down Lawson (described by friends as an Eric Rudolph-like survivalist) over the course of the day, only locating him at 1:30am when an acquaintance reported to police that Lawson had come by his house. Using K-9 units and thermal imaging equipment, he was finally tracked down. As a team closed in on him, just before daybreak, he shot himself in the head, killing himself.
The whole event is similar to the 2001 coal tower killings [1, 2, 3, 4, 5], with the notable exception that Craig Nordenson didn’t kill himself.
A tip to anyone considering a murder/suicide deal like this: get the suicide part taken care of before moving on to the murder.