Kristopher Karolkiewicz, Grand Haven Township, Michigan dad was having affair with much younger intern according to wife, Amanda ‘Mandy’ Karolkiewicz before shooting and killing her and their six children and burning the family home.
A Michigan man who shot and killed his wife and their six children before turning the murder weapon on himself before torching the family home is alleged to have cheated and had an affair with his much younger intern.
Kristopher Karolkiewicz, 47, his wife, Amanda ‘Mandy’ Karolkiewicz, 39, and their six children, ages five to 15, were found dead at their $750,000 home in Grand Haven Township on Friday morning.
Police determined that Kristopher shot Amanda and their children before starting several fires at the property and taking his own life according to the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office.
‘Emotional affair’ with much younger intern
All eight family members died from gunshot wounds, according to the sheriff’s office, which ruled the deaths of Amanda Karolkiewicz, 39, and the children homicides and the father’s death a suicide.
Four of the six children were Kristopher’s biological children. The other two were adopted by the couple.
The children ranging in ages from 5 to 15 were identified as Keegan, Bennett, Caroline, Ella, Smith, and Teddy Karolkiewicz. Four were boys ages 15, 12, 11, and 5; and the two girls were both 11 years old. Two of the children had been adopted, officials said.
While authorities have yet to say what set the husband and wife off, posts shared on Reddit some two years ago by Amanda reveal Kristopher having an ’emotional affair’ with a ‘much younger’ intern at his office six years ago.
Amanda, describing her life in the beach town of Grand Haven as ‘like living in a Hallmark movie,’ revealed how she met Kristopher in similar circumstances.
Amanda ‘Mandy’ Karolkiewicz posted on sub-reddit group, r/AsOneAfterInfidelity
‘He was divorced and older than me … fast forward ten years and five kids, he was cheating with the intern again – the same age I was when I was the intern,’ she wrote.
‘After about a year of self-loathing, I remember crying and looking at myself in the mirror and realizing how f***ed up it was that I was the one who was living so miserably because of what he did. I finally realized that I had been the only person who has ever showed up for myself my whole entire life.’
She wanted to end her marriage but the idea of leaving Kristopher was ‘insanely terrifying,’ she said, adding that she decided to try and work through the problems in the marriage for the sake of their six children.
‘I kept telling myself, “I love my kids more than I hate my husband right now.” They have no idea – faked it ’till we made it,’ she wrote in the 2024 post. ‘We’re in a much better place 4.5 years out, but it’s still a fight to stay in a healthy place.’
Kristopher claimed his affair never turned physical, but Amanda said she ‘never quite believed him.’
She said the ‘evidence [made] it all seem like it would be very unlikely that they were never physical.’
Grand Haven Township turned to marriage counseling in bid to save marriage
She admitted on the forum that she once shoved her husband after learning of his affair, a remark suggesting that the issues in their marriage stemmed beyond his infidelity.
‘I don’t feel bad still,’ Amanda wrote of the incident. ‘He towers over me and destroyed me mentally. It felt like I was being assaulted and needed to fight back. I think it’s a fight-or-flight thing.’
The couple started attending individual therapy and marriage counseling, which Amanda said would often infuriate Kristopher.
‘He was having trouble sleeping and was so angry and mad at himself because the counselor asked him if he heard me. It seems like such a big reaction to that pretty normal question from a marriage counselor. He is so sensitive to correction that I’m feeling so discouraged that we’ll ever be able to make progress,’ she wrote.
Doomed marriage power dynamics
Throughout their years of therapy, the couple seemingly made positive strides in their marriage.
Amanda said they both adopted a lifestyle of sobriety and that although they still had their struggles, she was ‘happy’ with her life.
‘For me, “safety” is the ability to trust that (he) will not get angry or defensive when I’m triggered, and will help to carry me through it,’ she wrote.
‘We’re almost five years out, and he’s trying, but still struggles with defensiveness. But in general, am I happy? Yes. I wouldn’t say I feel safety in my emotions, because he still struggles with receiving my triggers without defensiveness, and that’s slowing down my ability to regain feelings of safety.’
Amanda and Kristopher were wed in 2009.
Their youngest child was about to begin kindergarten at Peach Plains Elementary, where Amanda was a teacher.
The oldest, 15, was heading into high school and had recently begun driver’s education.
Amanda was a stay-at-home mom in 2024, her Reddit post revealed. She recently returned to the workforce and was serving as a substitute teacher for Grand Haven Area Public Schools.
Amanda was also honored by the district in a social media post in January.
Kristopher, however, was unemployed after he left his role at the American Heart Association earlier this month, WDIV reported.
He had been the organization’s national vice president of sales and marketing since September 2023 and predominantly worked from home in a remote capacity.
