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Psychologist Mom Shoots Twin Daughters To Death As They Slept Before Turning The Gun On Herself, Authorities Say
Michele Boudreau Deegan, who specialized in marriage and family counseling, had been involved in a custody dispute at the time of the slayings “which appears to be the primary motive behind the incident,” according to the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office.
A Washington psychologist, specializing in marriage and family counseling, allegedly shot her twin 7-year-old daughters to death while they slept Friday, before taking her own life.
Whatcom County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the home of 55-year-old Michele Boudreau Deegan Saturday afternoon around 1:15 p.m. after receiving a call from a roommate who reported his landlord and her two children were dead in an upstairs bedroom of a multi-level residence in Sudden Valley, according to a statement from the sheriff’s office.
Investigators believe Deegan shot her young daughters “sometime Friday evening” while they were sleeping and then turned the gun on herself.
Authorities said Deegan and been involved in a custody dispute at the time of the slayings “which appears to be the primary motive behind the incident.”
The last day Deegan was alive, the psychologist posted a long string of articles about the damages of narcissistic parents on her professional Facebook page.
The last article, posted at 8:48 p.m. Friday, was titled “Narcissistic Parents Are Literally Incapable Of Loving Their Children.”
Whatcom County Medical Examiner Dr. Gary Goldfogel ruled the deaths of 7-year-old Mairy Anneleise Deegan and her twin sister Katie Elizabeth Deegan as homicides after determining in autopsies conducted Monday that the twins had been killed by large caliber gunshot wounds to their heads, according The Bellingham Herald.
Goldfogel ruled Deegan’s death a suicide and said she used the same gun used against her daughters to shoot herself in the head.
Deegan, who also used the name Michele Boudreau Angelis, had offered professional counseling for individuals, couples and adolescents in Bellingham, focusing on an “empowerment model,” according to her professional website.
“My goal is to teach clients new ways of perceiving their problem, healthy coping behaviors for responding to their problem, and healthy attitudes & communication skills for working with their families, partners, or work environment so they can make changes in their own life,” her website said.
Neighbors in the Sudden Valley neighborhood where the shootings occurred told local station KIRO that they were shocked by violence. They reported that the young girls were rarely seen outside the home.
One unidentified person with knowledge of the family situation said people had been looking out for the girls and had even alerted child welfare authorities before they were killed. The person described Deegan as very troubled.
“It’s a real tragic situation that we’re still investigating, trying to get more information on what might have motivated someone to do something this horrific,” Whatcom County Sheriff Bill Elfo told the outlet.
