Man Murders Family and Commits Suicide - Berkeley

[kasia]

Apparent murder-suicide victims owned East Bay skin care practice
Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

(06-19) 11:55 PDT BERKELEY -- The Berkeley family of four found dead in a parking lot at Tilden Park in the East Bay hills have been identified as Kevin Morrissey, 51; his wife, Dr. Mamiko Kawai, 40; and their children, Nikki Morrissey, 8, and Kim "Lena" Morrissey, 6.

Police say that Morrissey, despairing of money problems related to the couple's Albany skin-care company, apparently shot his two young daughters and wife to death before turning the gun on himself Monday evening.

Officers responding to reports of fireworks or gunshots found all four people dead in the Mineral Springs parking lot off Wildcat Canyon Road, near Inspiration Point, just after 7 p.m.

The girls were in the back seat of a car, each shot in the head, said Chief Timothy Anderson of the East Bay Regional Park Police. Morrissey and his wife were on the ground outside the car, along with a .357 Magnum revolver and a note he had written, Anderson said.

In the note, Morrissey "did express remorse, and he indicated that the family was suffering from financial difficulties" related to Aura Skin Care, the chief said.

A woman who answered the phone at Aura today hung up on a Chronicle reporter.

Berkeley and park police went to the family's home on Northside Avenue in Berkeley to make sure there were no other victims inside, Anderson said. Police are awaiting a search warrant to make a more thorough check of the home, he said.

Wildcat Canyon Road connects Orinda and Berkeley over the East Bay hills. The park is popular with hikers and picnickers.

Park police investigated a murder-suicide in an Antioch park several years ago, but homicides in East Bay regional parks are rare, Anderson said.

Kawai had been a doctor for more than 12 years, according to Aura's Web site. She earned her M.D. at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and came to California to complete her internship and residency at UCSF in 1992.

Kawai specialized in lasers and cosmetic dermatology procedures in 2002 when she opened the Aura Laser Skin Care Center.

E-mail Henry K. Lee at hlee@sfchronicle.com.

[mr. x]

geeze, I was in Tilden 3 days ago

[Banana]

If you're going to off yourself, fine but why take your family with you honestly?

Maybe they'd rather be poor and alive. It's the ultimate act of selfishness.

[PiMPADOCiOUS]

It's a family suicide, ikkashinjuu, and it's what Japanese do when they have financial problems like this. Sounds like his wife is Japanese, and so maybe that's where he got the idea. It might be related to lover's suicide that was popular in Japan, where two people who wanted to be together but had problems would commit suicide together so that in the next world where they might have a better life, they could still be together.

[Faithless]

If you're going to off yourself, fine but why take your family with you honestly?

Maybe they'd rather be poor and alive. It's the ultimate act of selfishness.
My thoughts exactly.

Sometimes I wonder if that is really the motivation behind the murder part. Either way, when you're dead, you've got nothing to worry about.

[j&j2]

It's a family suicide, ikkashinjuu, and it's what Japanese do when they have financial problems like this. Sounds like his wife is Japanese, and so maybe that's where he got the idea. It might be related to lover's suicide that was popular in Japan, where two people who wanted to be together but had problems would commit suicide together so that in the next world where they might have a better life, they could still be together.

This actually seems to be a murder-suicide (mothers, unless mentally ill, generally, are not OK with killing her children) which is quite common here (and rare in Asia).

[Faithless]

I was wondering if there was a way he could have shaken loose an insurance policy, assuming he had one.

Hell, if he's gonna go through the trouble of shooting himself point blank, he should have just driven off the hillside going up Tilden's winding road.

[mr. x]

I was wondering if there was a way he could have shaken loose an insurance policy, assuming he had one.

Hell, if he's gonna go through the trouble of shooting himself point blank, he should have just driven off the hillside going up Tilden's winding road.

Amen to that, the morning I went up it was so foggy you couldn't see more than 40-50 feet at the top.

[Faithless]

Amen to that, the morning I went up it was so foggy you couldn't see more than 40-50 feet at the top.
Well, and the other thing that is sad, is that, maybe the guy didn't explore all his options, if he was truly in financial troubles.

Lately, and for a while now, there have been constant radio adds for this tax attorney named Steve Moskowitz, who specializes in bankruptcies. His radio spots include a story of dude that offed himself over his tax situation, and Mr. Moskowitz says he could have helped.

[hooligan]

Wait, his wife was a dermatologist and they still had money issues?

[Faithless]

Wait, his wife was a dermatologist and they still had money issues?
They shared their business. And: (http://cbs5.com/localwire/localfsnews/bcn/2007/06/21/n/HeadlineNews/MURDER-SUICIDE/resources_bcn_html) The (suicide) note (found on Morrissey) said that Morrissey found other employment opportunities "unattractive" ... . Morrissey, dude, you don't have to start looking at Micky D's for work.

I'm beginning to feel more and more that the dude went nuts. He claims to have worked for the CIA. And then there are the insights from others around him (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/21/FOURDEAD.TMP).

"Kevin was very outgoing and friendly, but he also had a very controlling side, and he vacillated to other moods," Daniels said. "He was a very complex, intelligent, resourceful person, and I do not believe that financial stress alone would cause this."

Pamela Bouey, a Walnut Creek attorney who represented the couple on their clinic's lease, said, "I just really do just think they were in over their heads," she said. "Something sort of spun out of control, obviously. Otherwise this wouldn't have happened."

[hooligan]

He sounds a bit bipolar, with the whole I make up a life for myself kind of deal. He shared the business? Why not just let his wife go work for a HMO? She would be making at least six figures upwards to half a million. Especially, as a dermatologist. I'm just going... what the hell?

[mr. x]

In other words he's just like every other eccentric berkeley refugee?

[Golden Monkey]

Definitely something bi-polar or severe chemical imbalance. Reminds me of the suicide of Iris Chang. At least she didn't kill her kids.

Sometimes overly ambitious and driven people can't turn off their drive and when the future looks bad for them they become morbidly gloomy.

http://www.sfist.com/attachments/sfist_rita/blotter622.jpg

[eos]

what's with the armchair diagnoses? speaking from personal experience, i didn't/don't want to kill anyone else, just myself. in my head, i am the failure, the loser....everyone would be better without me.

i could be wrong and just have a milder form of bipolar. meh.

[MD2020]

It's a family suicide, ikkashinjuu, and it's what Japanese do when they have financial problems like this. Sounds like his wife is Japanese, and so maybe that's where he got the idea. It might be related to lover's suicide that was popular in Japan, where two people who wanted to be together but had problems would commit suicide together so that in the next world where they might have a better life, they could still be together.

It's a murder-suicide, and it's what crazy white men do when they have financial problems like this. Sounds like his wife is Japanese, which probably has absolutely nothing to do with this. It might be related to murder suicides that are popular with professional wrestlers, where two people who wanted to be together but had problems would bound, gag, and strangle each other and their children, so that in the next world, they can still be WWE champions.