Chilling Instagram note before family killed in murder-suicide pact
A Texas teenager left a chilling note detailing his years-long battle with depression before he and his older brother killed their entire immediate family in a gruesome murder-suicide pact, police say.
Police in the Texas town of Allen arrived at the family home in the early hours of Monday morning (local time) after they were reportedly tipped off by a relative. When they arrived, they found six people dead following a family massacre at the hands of the two brothers.
Posting a Google Doc link to Instagram, Farhan Towhid, 19, left a chilling note behind explaining his actions and detailing his struggle with serious depression.
He wrote that in February of this year, his older brother Tanvir — who also battled depression — made a proposition to him: If they couldn't find happiness and "fix everything" within a year, they would kill themselves and their family.
In the end, they carried out their plan less than three months later.
"The plan was simple. We get two guns," he wrote, before going into more harrowing detail.
Police spokesperson Jon Felty told local media investigators believed the 19 and 21-year-old ultimately carried out their pact.
“Apparently two brothers made an agreement to commit suicide and ended up taking the entire family with them,” he said.
A friend, who like the family was enmeshed in the local Bangladeshi community, confirmed to a local CBS affiliate the entire family was killed in the shocking crime.
“When I heard the news I couldn’t breathe for 20 to 30 minutes," said Shawn Ahsan.
"His children were unhappy for some reason and one thing led to another.
"We are heartbroken. I don’t know what else to say..."
Shooter called gun laws 'a joke'
Farhan's Instagram has been removed but his letter, which runs for about 12 pages, has been reposted and remains online.
In it he called gun control measures in the United States "a joke" and detailed how easy it was for his brother to purchase the guns, noting that he simply lied about suffering from a mental illness.
He wrote at length about making daily decisions and the difficulty in finding happiness. As he tried to give away his money, he became furious that the GoFundMe website promotes the top-earning causes when he wanted to find less successful campaigns to donate to.
Ultimately, the brothers justified their actions by saying they spared their family from the grief of their suicides.
“If I killed just myself, they would be miserable,” Farhan wrote.
“I love my family. I genuinely do. And that’s exactly why I decided to kill them.”
Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467.
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