Barry family. Photo submitted by family member.
DULUTH, Minn. (KFGO) – New details have been released about a suspected murder-suicide involving a family in Duluth on Wednesday.
An immediate family member of the five people found dead in a Duluth home has confirmed that the suspect in the crime, Brandon Taylor Cole-Skogstad, 29, posted a confession on Facebook Wednesday morning.
In the post, Cole-Skogstad cited his mental health, writing that he had decided to kill himself, his aunt, uncle and his cousins. He also wrote about suffering from mental illness for years, wishing he could go back and make better choices in life and would have “ignored the hatred thrown at me by peers for so long.”
According to a press release from the Duluth Police Department, the victims are Sadie Lucille Barry, 9; Shiway Elizabeth Barry, 12; Riana Lou Barry, 44; and Sean Christopher Barry, 47.
His post goes on to say, “I have made the absolutely horrid choice in not only taking my life, but the lives of my aunt … uncle … and my two sweet, beyond angelic cousins.”
The post ends by saying, “I cannot fathom how I came to this decision, but I do know this. If there is a God sitting in heaven, I wish so much that he grant my family the most peaceful heavenly afterlife possible. If God can truly forgive me, weather [sic] or not I ask for it. Weather [sic] or not I feel I am worthy, I only ask to tell them all sorry. I truly hope I can learn to accept feelings of love from those that gave it. I love you all and please know I knew you all loved me. I tried my best to fight it. Good bye.”
Police Chief Mike Tusken on Wednesday afternoon said the incident began with the Hermantown Police Department getting a call for a welfare check in Hermantown at 11:18 a.m.
Then, around noon, Duluth police officers were called to a home at 715 E.12th Street in the East Hillside neighborhood for a man experiencing a mental health crisis.
It turned into a larger police presence when officers learned that the man may have had weapons with him.
“Eventually, the Duluth Police Department was able to enter the home and locate five deceased people, and a deceased dog,” Tusken told reporters while calling the crime an “unimaginable tragedy.”
Tusken said he has never been called to a scene with five people dead in his 30 years with the Duluth Police Department.
Meanwhile, Mayor Emily Larson released a statement on Twitter saying in part:
“Things happened today that can’t be undone. Tonight we are a community in pain and shock, sharing a sorrow for the loss of our people. Thank you to the first responders who answered the call. My heart, like yours, absolutely hurts for the pain of loved ones and the fear people likely experienced on their final day here with us.”
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