Elmore County murder suicide: US Air Force vet, Robert ‘Bob’ Orsi shoots wife, Charlene Ann Orsi and kids 9 days after divorce filing at family Wetumpka, Alabama home.
A US Air Force veteran has murdered his wife and one of their 12 year old triplet daughters before setting the family home on fire and killing himself in a double murder suicide that left three dead and two injured. The violence comes nine days after the man’s wife filed for divorce.
Killed at the family’s Wetumpka, Elmore County, Alabama home circa 5pm, Saturday was Bob Orsi’s wife, Charlene Ann Orsi, 41, one of the couple’s triplet daughters along with Robert Orsi, 51.
The couple’s two other children were both shot multiple times but survived and are in hospital with the couple’s 13-year-old daughter escaping unharmed.
According to a post by theElmore County sheriff’s office’s Facebook page, Charlene Ann Orsi was found dead in the carport, and the child killed was found in a bedroom. The two injured children escaped after being shot, and a fourth child was able to flee unharmed to a neighbor’s house. The two shot children were operated upon and were said to be now stable.
AL reported the husband shooting at his wife and children following an argument breaking out between the estranged husband and wife.
At the time Orsi’s wife had gone to the house to pick up their children — a 13-year-old and 12-year-old triplets, all girls. The woman was stopped at the door by the husband, who fatally shot her in the head. Their 13-year-old child escaped to safety at a neighbor’s house.
Following opening fire on his wife and children, Orsi set fire to the family home and then killed himself. Court records showed Charlene filing for divorce nine days ago and having sole custody of their four daughters. At the time of the murder suicide, the couple had been living separately.
UPDATE: Charlene Ann Orsi was found dead in the carport, and the child killed was found in a bedroom. The two injured children escaped after being shot, and a fourth child was able to flee unharmed to a neighbor’s house. pic.twitter.com/xpqxwIhC5r
— Samantha Day (@SamanthaDayWSFA) July 8, 2018
Charlene Ann Orsi and Bob Orsi: A history of domestic violence.
WSFA reported the wife, who worked as an elementary school teacher, citing irreconcilable differences when she filed for divorce on June 28. It remained unclear how long the couple had been living separately.
The Sheriff’s Office revealed there being a series of domestic violence reports.
‘I just can’t imagine what’s going through a man’s mind to line up three children and shoot them,’ Sheriff Bill Franklin said. ‘I just hope those children can get beyond this trauma. You don’t hear about these situations every day.’
The pair both served in the Air Force and they got married in Alaska in 1994.
Orsi worked as a Senior Master Sgt at the Maxwell Air Base in Montgomery.
The tragedy led to friends and family taking to social media where they expressed their grief and disbelief.
‘She was taken from this world way too soon and even more heartbreaking so was one of my nieces,’ Charlene’s half-sister Annette Aurelio Smallwood said on Facebook.
‘We may never understand the why but as hard as it is I have to put my faith in God.
‘Please continue to pray for my three nieces, my Dad and stepmom as they move forward today.’
A GoFundMe account, ‘Loving the Orsi’s,‘ has been set up for the family. As of Sunday afternoon, EST, $7465 of a $10K goal had been raised.
