Friends recount downward spiral before McAndrew killings

Joseph McAndrew Jr. withdrew from social events, ended a relationship with an Argentine woman he had met on the Internet, and became increasingly paranoid in the months before he allegedly killed his parents and twin brother, friends told Upper Merion investigators this week.

In a search-warrant affidavit filed Tuesday, Montgomery County authorities recounted several interviews with those closest to the 23-year-old, while asking a judge for access to computers in the McAndrew family home as well as any books and personal correspondence that might shed light on his mental state.

"Detectives have thus far been unable to locate witnesses who could provide details of McAndrew's activities, demeanor, and, more importantly, his mental state in the time period immediately preceding these murders," the affidavit states. "Unfortunately, the persons best able to answer those questions are now deceased."

But in the days after police discovered McAndrew covered in blood outside his home in Gulph Mills and his family fatally stabbed inside, several friends recounted a downward spiral.

Scott Loayza, a friend of McAndrew's and his twin brother, James', told investigators that Joseph Jr. was a sword aficionado who had practiced cutting and slicing with the same 18-inch "samurai-style" dagger authorities that believe he used to stab his father, Joseph McAndrew Sr., 70; mother, Susan McAndrew, 64; and twin.

Loayza was quoted in the affidavit saying that Joseph Jr. had begun to suspect his brother of hacking into his computer in the months before the attack and that he had set up his own Internet account with another provider.

Another friend, Julian Gabrielli, said he last talked to McAndrew in December. At the time, McAndrew was distraught over the end of an Internet relationship, according to the affidavit.

Detectives also found evidence of mental distress while cataloging the crime scene, including a book, Dealing With Schizophrenia, and a sealed file labeled "Medco/Medicare" and "2011 evidence of drug plan for Joe-Joe." Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said at a news conference Monday that mental illness must have played a role in Saturday's attack, but since then investigators have remained tight-lipped.

McAndrew has said little since his peculiar statements at the time of his arrest that an "extermination" had occurred of "the person named father," "person named mother," and "person named brother."

Detectives have been unable to find any record of treatment of mental illness through state and county-run facilities, suggesting that McAndrew may not have had a formal diagnosis or that the family had sought treatment for him through private facilities, sources close to the investigation said. The affidavit offers some doubt about the extent of any possible illness. As officers moved in to arrest him Saturday, McAndrew was holding the keys to the black Toyota Camry in the driveway.

"These facts, coupled with the fact that the doors to the house were locked, leads to the conclusion that McAndrew was about to enter his car and flee the scene," the affidavit states.

McAndrew remains in the Montgomery County Correctional Facility without bond, pending a preliminary hearing scheduled for Tuesday.