Wealthy Indian-origin couple, daughter found dead in US home; police suspect domestic violence

A wealthy Indian-origin couple and their teenage daughter were found dead in their $5 million mansion in the US state of Massachusetts in an apparent domestic violence incident, according to media reports.

The bodies of Rakesh Kamal (57), his wife Teena (54), and their 18-year-old daughter Ariana, were found in their Dover mansion at about 7.30 p.m. on Thursday, 28 December, Norfolk district attorney (DA) Michael Morrissey said. Dover is about 32 km southwest of downtown Boston, the capital of Massachusetts.

Teena and her husband, who also went by Rick, had previously run a now-defunct education systems company called EduNova.

The DA, who described the "terrible tragedy" as a "domestic violence situation", said a gun was found near Kamal's body. He declined to say whether all three family members were shot dead, and if so by whom, The New York Post reported.

Morrissey said he was waiting for the medical examiner's ruling, which was expected soon, before deciding whether to refer to the incident as a murder-suicide. The district attorney refused to speculate on a motive for the slayings.

The couple appeared to have faced financial problems in recent years, online records show. The grim discovery of their bodies was made after a relative had stopped by to check on the family after not hearing from them in one or two days, the district attorney said.

Morrissey added that there had been no prior police reports or domestic incidents tied to the home. "There's been no police reports, there's been no problems, no domestic issues, no nothing at that house or in the entire neighbourhood that I'm aware of," Morrissey said. "This is very unfortunate and our hearts go out to the entire Kamal family in this tragedy."

"I hate to see it at any time," Morrissey added of domestic violence incidents. "I think some of the tensions that people feel in relationships often come out around the holidays."

The DA said the investigation into the slayings was ongoing and that investigators had worked the crime scene through much of the night. "Although the investigation is at a very preliminary stage, the evidence available at this time does not indicate the involvement of any outside party, but suggests that this is a deadly incident of domestic violence," his office said in a statement. "It is not believed that there is any ongoing danger to the Dover community related to this incident."

The family's sprawling mansion, estimated to be worth $5.45 million, went into foreclosure a year ago and was sold to the Massachusetts-based Wilsondale Associates LLC for $3 million, according to The New York Post.

The Kamals had purchased the 19,000 sq ft estate, which boasts 11 bedrooms, for $4 million in 2019, according to media reports. The slain family members were the only ones living in the mansion at the time, the DA said, adding that the area, one of the wealthiest in the state, was "a nice neighbourhood, a safe community".

Rick and Teena's company was launched in 2016 but dissolved in December 2021, state records show. Teena Kamal was listed on EduNova's website as the COO of the company, and described as an alum of Harvard University and Delhi University.

She was also listed as being on the board of directors for the American Red Cross of Massachusetts. Her online bio touted her more than three decades of work in the education and technology industries.

According to his biography on the EduNova website, Kamal was an alumnus of Boston University and the MIT Sloan School of Management, as well as Stanford University. Before EduNova, he "held many executive positions in the education-consulting field," the biography added.

EduNova marketed a "student success system" designed to improve the grades of students in middle school, high school, and college," Boston Globe reported.

Teena filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy in September 2022, listing between $1 million and $10 million in liabilities, filings show. The case, however, was dismissed two months later owing to insufficient documentation.

Meanwhile, the couple's daughter was a student in Middlebury College, a $64,800-a-year private liberal arts school in Vermont, where she was studying neuroscience, according to her LinkedIn bio.

Morrissey also said a homicide has not been reported in Dover since 2020, and he has never worked a homicide case from that neighbourhood since he started his position as DA 12 years ago. "It's very rare to have this kind of a violence situation almost in any community in Norfolk County, but particularly Dover," he said. "It's a small, well-run community, but like everybody else, there are problems out there that can affect you no matter where you live."