John & Regina Tobin Shaker Heights murder suicide. An Ohio family of four is found dead after the father sent a letter to his father requesting welfare check. Father had lost job earlier that year and suffered from depression.
The American dream out of reach of one family. A family of four have been found dead inside their Shaker Heights home in a suspected murder-suicide in Ohio.
Officers were called to the family home just before 2.30pm on Sunday for a welfare check, at the request of a family member, according to a police statement.
There they discovered the bodies of John Tobin, 57, Regina Tobin, 58, and their two twin teenage children, Graham and Natalie, both 15.
The medical examiner’s office has not said how the four died.
The deaths are thought to have culminated following the father having lost his job and suffering from depression according to a report via Cleveland.com.
Shaker Heights police are investigating a possible murder-suicide after finding John Tobin, Regina Tobin and their two children Natalie and Graham Tobin all dead inside their home Sunday afternoon. @WEWS https://t.co/puqN4uWzoo pic.twitter.com/FlLzZUvDbq
— Emily Hamilton (@emilyhamiltontv) August 31, 2020
The family had been living at the home for just over a year, according to a neighbor.
‘It’s hard to understand what could’ve happened,’ they said.
‘We don’t know anything about it. We just know how how great the kids were when they came over to our house.
‘Just very outgoing, easygoing kind of kids.’
John Tobin according to Cleveland.com prior to Sunday’s suspected murder suicide had sent an ‘alarming email’ to his parents.
John Tobin’s father, Hudson philanthropist Phil Tobin, described the tragedy as ‘almost unimaginable.’
According to the father, John Tobin’s ‘apolegetic’ email asked his parents to call the police department and request a welfare check at the family home. The note said the key was under the doormat and that it was safe for them to enter.
Father loses executive job at University Hospitals
John Tobin suffered from depression, and earlier this year lost his job at University Hospitals, his father said. A UH spokesman confirmed John Tobin had been vice president of development in the Harrington Discovery Institute, but declined to offer any additional comment.
John Tobin previously served as the vice president of marketing for the American Endowment Foundation, a pioneering sponsor of donor-advised funds that his father founded in 1993. He joined his father’s next endeavor, iGiftFund, before moving to UH in 2017.
The recent death of the Tobins’ family dog, who broke his back after falling into a culvert, also added to John Tobin’s depression, his father said.
‘He had depression,’ Phil Tobin said. ‘It’s just hard to imagine that it rose to that level of severity.’
Phil Tobin said the tragedy is especially difficult to comprehend because his son did not have any known issues with his wife and children.
‘He loved his family. He could not have been a better father,’ Phil Tobin said. ‘That’s what makes it so difficult.’
Family was described friendly – daughter described as scholar
Laurel School released a statement after learning of the death of Natalie Tobin, who was a pupil there.
The all-girls private school in Shaker Heights sent out a letter to parents on Sunday evening, describing Natalie as a ‘bookworm, scholar and volleyball player’ as well as a ‘gentle, warm and thoughtful friend.’
‘The loss of a child is devastating, and the sudden and horrific loss of a family is excruciating,’ it read.
‘Our counseling team will be available to support our girls as the school processes its sorrow.
‘The Ninth Grade will not begin classes tomorrow, and we will be in touch this evening with the Ninth Grade families with further details.’
Neighbors in Shaker Heights said Monday that they did not know the Tobin family well because they moved to the area fairly recently. They described the Tobin family as friendly, and said they could be seen walking the family dog in the neighborhood.
