Police in New Jersey are investigating the possibility that a fire which claimed the lives of a family of four with Trinidadian roots on Tuesday morning was in fact a murder suicide. According to a report on Fox News yesterday, the bodies of Lyndon Beharry, 35, Amanda Morris, 29, and their children Brandon and Brian Beharry, ages seven and four, were discovered unconscious after firefighters extinguished a fire at their home at Joline Avenue, Long Branch, New Jersey, around midnight on Tuesday.
They were taken to hospital where they eventually succumbed to their injuries. While police initially believed that the fire was accidental, forensic evidence gathered afterwards revealed the possibility of a more sinister cause. First Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Marc LeMieux, in an interview with the news network yesterday said the victims showed signs of injuries unrelated to the fire.
The police’s suspicions are reportedly being bolstered by the fact that the fire was confined to the second story and that there was no external damage to the house. “This fire does not appear to be accidental. We are not ruling out the potential that this was a homicide and a potential suicide,” Marc LeMieux said.
Beharry, a mechanic with the city’s Public Works Department, was described as “an excellent mechanic and a very good-natured person” by his boss Fred Migliaccio. While this newspaper understands that the family are originally from Trinidad, it could not confirm how long ago they migrated to the United States.
Investigations are continuing.