A massive house fire in Missouri that killed a woman and her four children is believed to have been a murder-suicide, police said.
The fire at the home in Ferguson, Missouri, killed Bernadine Pruessner, 39, and her children Ivy Pruessner, 9; Ellie Pruessner, 9; Jackson Spader, 6; and Millie Spader, 2, according to the St. Louis County Police Department.
Police said a preliminary investigation revealed that the case was a murder-suicide and that the mother started the blaze.
“It is believed that Bernadine intentionally set a mattress on fire as that was the point of origin for the fire. A note was also left stating Bernadine’s intentions to take her life and the lives of her children,” police said in a Wednesday statement.
Police responded to a call for service at the family’s home at 4:23 a.m. Monday, the St. Louis County Police Department said in the statement. The officers were told by fire personnel that four people had been found dead inside the house and that another person was found dead shortly after. At least one dog also died in the fire, police said.
Nathan Cohen, who was Pruessner’s attorney, told NBC News she had been going through contentious custody and child support cases with the two fathers of her children.
Cohen said Pruessner, a professor at a community college, was faced “with the stress of having to be in court all the time, and trying to raise a family.”
“I think she thought these kids were being used as foils to get to her,” Cohen said.
In a statement provided by Cohen, which referred to Pruessner as Birdie, her family said “Birdie lived for her children, and focused only on their happiness.”
“Birdie got to an awful place, one that resulted in tragic consequences,” the statement said. “The family wants you to know that she got to that darkness as a result of spurious litigation and unfounded allegations by her ex-husband and her former boyfriend.”
Jared Spader, the father of Jackson and Millie, released a statement to…
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