Priyatharsini Natarajan, Hillsborough, NJ mom confesses to strangling her two young sons, ages 5 & 7 while dad was at work. No known motive.
A Hillsborough, NJ mom is alleged to have strangled her two young sons, ages 5 and 7 to death while the children’s father was at work.
Notice of the tragedy came after the children’s father returned home circa 6.45 p.m, Tuesday, where he came across his two young son’s lifeless bodies at the family’s Shell Court residence.
Priyatharsini Natarajan, 35, was taken into custody Tuesday night after her husband called 911 to report that his ‘wife killed the kids,’ according to an affidavit of probable cause.
Hillsborough, NJ mom left dad note confessing to killing couple’s two young sons
The mother also left behind a note saying she planned to kill the children and herself, police said. According to the probable affidavit, the father discovered his two young sons not breathing in the bedroom. Prior to the father calling 911, the father stated that the children’s mother confessed to killing the couple’s two young sons according to NJ.com.
Following the execution of a search warrant, detectives found a handwritten note addressed to Natarajan’s husband in which she confessed that she was planning on killing the couple’s two children and herself.
Natarajan following her arrest was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and a weapons offense.
Investigators said they found ‘multiple ligature materials’ inside the home.
‘Our community – of which I am a resident – is navigating an unfathomable loss today. Last night, we lost two of our young students from Sunnymead Elementary School,’ Schools Superintendent Mike Volpe said in a statement.
The students’ names have not been released. The Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office in a news release said Wednesday they were waiting for the medical examiner to positively identify them.
No known motive released
News of the children’s murders stunned neighbors, with residents at the apartment complex where the family lived saying that the children and parents seemed like a typical family.
‘We don’t know what is the real reason behind it, how it happened, why it happened, because we never heard neighbors talking (badly) about them,’ said Vaibhab Gupta, a resident at the complex.
‘This neighborhood is good, it’s very safe, kids play. I never thought such incidents might happen here. It’s generally safe, the people are good here,’ Gupta added.
Authorities had yet to say what may have led to the mother seeking to end her two young son’s lives.
Sunnymead Elementary, the school where the two boys attended were offering counseling services to the ‘traumatized’ children and fellow students.
Said Schools Superintendent Mike Volpe in a statement in part, ‘We are urging families to be simple and direct when speaking with their children, to limit social media exposure to avoid distressing rumors, and to reach out to our school counselors for any immediate support.’
Come Thursday, the mother was being held at the Somerset County Jail ahead of an initial court hearing.
