- February 2, 2023
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- 6 minutes read
Family wore ear protection, drugged dog in triple suicide pact: report – PennLive
A family of three found dead in their York County backyard Jan. 25, 2022, had a suicide pact, the coroner’s office said. James A. Daub, 62; Deborah A. Daub, 59; and Morgan E. Daub, 26, were found dead around 11:15 a.m. behind this Loman Avenue home in West Manchester Township. (PennLIve photo)
Investigators have found some answers to what they called a “very unusual” case when a woman and her parents died in a suicide pact last week in York County.
In speaking to CBS21, West Manchester Township Police Chief John Snyder and other investigators shared that the family left behind notes explaining their individual reasoning for the pact, plus details of the preparations they took before their deaths.
The Daub family was found dead outside their home on Loman Avenue on Jan. 25, after neighbors called in a welfare check. The York County Coroner’s office ruled the parents’ deaths homicides, and the daughter’s death a suicide.
The mother, Deborah Daub, 59, shared that her 26-year-old daughter Morgan was complaining of persistent audible hallucinations and had suicidal thoughts.
Detective Timothy Fink told the outlet that Deborah wrote about not wanting her daughter to die alone, and saying she was going to join her when she decided to end her life.
Evidence of mental health struggles was found on the daughter’s YouTube channel, where she had uploaded three videos including one days before the killings.
The 6-second video had no sound and contained only a single frame with the words “FOLLOW ME AS I FOLLOW CHRIST!!!”
There was another video from November, following the Queen of England’s death, where Morgan Daub uploaded an 8-minute video where she talked about formally abdicating the throne of England.
Months before that, another video talked about the Daub family home being under surveillance by the United States military.
“My family and I are law-abiding American citizens, yet we are being denied fundamental HUMAN RIGHTS,” Morgan wrote in the video’s description. “We are daily enduring all manner of harassment and illegal, unconstitutional surveillance.”
The patriarch of the family, 62-year-old James Daub, had written a series of letters spanning a couple of days where he convinced himself he couldn’t live without his family, CBS21 reported.
Officials have not determined who shot the parents and the sequence of the shootings. According to the York County Coroner’s office, all three died from gunshot wounds to the head.
Police told CBS21 that gunshot residue was found on all three bodies.
But the suicide pact itself was solidly planned, with police telling the outlet that there were specific instructions for the family dog to be taken care of, and the dog had been drugged so that it would not bite first responders, CBS21 reported. The family was also wearing ear protection, which could have blocked the sound of the gunshots.
Fink told the station that there varying degrees of mental illness that he believed played into each person’s decision to end their life.
Both parents were ordained ministers, who had distanced themselves from their community in recent years, according to neighbors.
Police told CBS21 that they are wrapping up their investigation, confident in the family’s suicide pact plan.
“It’s tragic what happened to this family,” Detective Fink told the outlet.
If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, call or text 988 for help. The Prevent Suicide PA website provides additional resources.
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