Services Planned for Slain Family

Family members are planning a private funeral service for the six people found shot to death in their remote Riverside County ranch home Tuesday morning.

Pastor Gabriel Bejjani of the Riverside Seventh Day Baptist Church said in an e-mail Thursday that survivors of David J. McGowan, a deputy investigator for the county district attorney, wanted the private service for the victims: McGowan, 44; his wife, Karen, 42; his mother, Angela, 75; and the couple’s three children, Chase, 13, Paige, 10, and Rayne, 8.

“We’ll only contact those who we want there,” said a female relative of David McGowan’s who declined to be identified.

The Sheriff’s Department said Wednesday that crime scene evidence, including an apparent suicide note, made them confident that David McGowan, a veteran law enforcement officer, used his work-issued 9-millimeter handgun to fire the shots into the heads of his five family members while they slept early Tuesday. They said he then called 911 and shot himself, ending what Sheriff Bob Doyle called the biggest mass murder in his 30 years with the department.

County coroner’s officials confirmed through autopsies concluded Thursday that the causes of death for all six were the gunshot wounds to the head, sheriff’s Sgt. Earl Quinata said. He also said there was no indication so far that David McGowan had used a silencer.

Sheriff’s investigators found McGowan’s bloody sock prints leaving the bedrooms of the victims, blood and gunpowder residue on his hands and a statement on a piece of paper with lyrics from the rock band Los Lonely Boys’ hit single, “Heaven.”

McGowan is believed to have written, “Woe is me. I’m looking forward to seeing you in the next life.” The paper was found near his computer.

There were no signs of a break-in at the sprawling home, in the San Bernardino National Forest development of Garner Valley.

Investigators and family members continued trying to understand what provoked the massacre.

William Leonesio, Karen McGowan’s father, spoke only briefly about the tragedy when reached by telephone Thursday at his Indio home.

“When you lose six people in your family, there’s nothing you want to say,” Leonesio said. “I don’t think I’ll ever want to talk about it.”

Sandy Curl, David McGowan’s sister, said conversations with other family members had left her no closer to determining what motivated her brother’s brutal attack.

“We may never get there,” Curl said.

Karen McGowan’s son from another marriage was due in Riverside County on Thursday night, after boarding an emergency flight home from his military assignment in Bahrain, Bejjani said.

Quinata said the Sheriff’s Department was working long hours to uncover motive, exploring David McGowan’s personal life, financial situation and workload.

“We want answers, for the loved one just back from the military and the other family members,” Quinata said. “We need to make sure [they] get all the information about this case and to let them know that this is investigated completely. We’re still looking into all avenues.”

Bejjani said he planned a separate service, after the private family service, for Angela McGowan, who attended the Riverside church.