Man Kills Wife, Ex-Wife, Son, Self in N.Y.C. Murder-Suicide
On Monday night, a 39-year-old New York City man committed suicide shortly after fatally shooting his wife, ex-wife and 6-year-old son, and NYPD sources confirm to PEOPLE a bitter custody battle may have been behind the violence. At about 9 p.m., police were summoned to the Astoria, Queens, apartment of James Shields after neighbors heard several gunshots. Inside the apartment, police found Shields dead from a pair of self-inflicted injuries: NYPD sources say he cut his own throat and shot himself. Deeper into the apartment, they found the bodies of his wife, 38-year-old Saskia Shields, his ex-wife, 47-year-old Linda Olthof, and their son, James Jr. All were shot to death, sources confirm. A note was found at the scene, according to sources. The sources confirm the note read, “I had a perfect life, and now it’s all screwed up.” Olthof and James Jr. were visiting Shields from the Netherlands, where they were living, the sources say. Shields had set up a GoFu