Tax lawyer in murder-suicide draws FBI inquiry

TOWSON, Md. - The FBI was investigating a New York tax attorney's investment-business dealings after he beat and asphyxiated his wife and two daughters in a Maryland hotel room and then killed himself, authorities said yesterday.

Their bodies were discovered Monday in a hotel north of Baltimore. Yesterday, police revealed some of their findings and named William Parente, 59, of Garden City, N.Y., as the killer of his wife, Betty Parente, 58, and their daughters, Stephanie, 19, and Catherine, 11.

The couple and Catherine were in Maryland to visit Stephanie, a sophomore at Loyola College in Baltimore.

The cause of death for Parente's wife and daughters, who all were found on a bed, was blunt-force trauma and asphyxiation, said Cpl. Mike Hill, a Baltimore County police spokesman. Hill said Parente died by cutting himself and was found in the bathroom.

It appeared Betty died first, Catherine next, and Stephanie later Sunday afternoon, though the timeline was still under investigation, Hill said. There was no sign they were restrained and no notes were found in the room.

Investigators were unable to conclude if there was a struggle, Hill said.

Police Chief Jim Johnson said Parente answered a phone call from Stephanie's roommate to the hotel room around midnight, after his wife and daughters are believed to have been killed.

Hill said investigators do not have a motive and have not determined whether the deaths were related to any financial problems.

James Margolin, an FBI spokesman, confirmed that the agency began probing William Parente's business dealings after the deaths but declined to provide details.

The New York Attorney General's Office said it had received a complaint from a man who said he had invested hundreds of thousands of dollars with William Parente and had trouble getting his money back.

Spokesman Alex Detrick said the complaint was received Tuesday afternoon, and investigators had yet to determine whether to start an investigation.

The Parentes lived in a neighborhood of million-dollar homes in Garden City, N.Y., across the street from a golf course. William was a tax and estate planning attorney who commuted to Manhattan. Betty was a volunteer.

"I can't tell you how heartsick I am," next-door neighbor Mary Opulente Krener said. "This is the most wonderful family, the most kind and loving family. I'm astounded."