Utah Family Found Dead, Poison Suspected : authorities say

A Utah family found dead last month in their home in Springville was likely poisoned, according to authorities. The family of five was discovered locked in a single room, and the situation looked suspicious immediately.

“These deaths were not accidental or natural in any way,” stated an officer in an affadavit filed to search the home of Benjamin and Kristi Strack, who were found dead in their Springfield home last month with children Benson, 14, Emery, 12, and 11-year-old Zion. The children’s bodies seemed to have been positioned after death and beside each body of the family was a cup filled with red liquid, police said. Investigators are awaiting the results of toxicology tests.

The bodies were discovered in the house by the children’s grandmother and the lone surviving child of the family last month. The grandmother told firefighters on the scene that she was certain the family wasn’t killed by a carbon monoxide leak, and said, without further explanation, that she “couldn’t believe ‘she’ would do this to the kids,'” police reported, indicating a possible murder-suicide scenario.

Benjamin and Kristi Strack pleaded guilty four years ago to charges of forgery, theft, identity fraud and unlawful possession of credit cards. Benjamin Strack also pleaded guilty to drug paraphernalia charges

Agencies/Canadajournal