Quadruple Murders Come in Threes

Hopefully this is a freak occurrence, but there are three recent quadruple murders in the news:

• Ind. Man Faces 4 Murder Charges in Killings - Simon Rios was found contemplating suicide on his front stoop after strangling his wife and three daughters. The wife had apparently voiced some dismay at the unemployed man's failure to do some household chores.


• Boston Investigators Seek Suspects in Slayings of Four Men Shot in Basement of House - The victims were part of a rap group who used the basement to rehearse, and were in their late teens/early twenties. The murders pushed the number of homicides in Boston this year to a record 71.


• Four shot to death in illegal Paterson after-hours club - The four victims - three men and a woman - were all Hispanic, the owner of the property is Hispanic, and all the local interviewees in the article were Hispanic, except for Twenty-five year Paterson Councilman Thomas Rooney, who commented (regarding the after-hours clubs, but could just as well been referring to the murders themselves one gathers) "these things go on in Paterson, and have for years and years." Paterson, NJ of course, was the setting for a fabled triple murder in the sixties.