A former Prince William County park ranger who complained about having dreams of killing people has pleaded guilty in the slaying of his wife and two stepchildren, prosecutors said. Carrillo Dean, 45, pleaded to three counts of capital murder in the shooting deaths of 14-year-old Brittany Kirk, 13-year-old Connor Kirk and his wife, 45-year-old Elizabeth Dean. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors agreed to not seek the death penalty, and instead are asking for three life sentences.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul B. Ebert said he has never seen a case like this.
“It’s a sad case” Ebert told The Washington Examiner. “It’s hard to understand why he would kill his innocent children.”
Dean’s attorneys raised the issue of an insanity defense, but the commonwealth’s doctors determined that Dean was legally sane at the time of the shootings, but suffered from severe emotional distress, Ebert said.
Dean’s sentencing is scheduled for April 1.
The February 2009 slayings shocked the family’s quiet neighborhood in Triangle. The family was known to attend church twice weekly and make cookies for friends.
According to court documents, Dean returned from work and found his family arguing over homework and Bible study.
And then the man who had been a county park ranger for 23 years “just snapped,” court documents said.
Dean took out a .45-caliber gun and shot his wife in the head, then went to her teenage children’s bedrooms and shot and killed them, too, police said.
Dean called a non-emergency police number and told authorities that there was a problem at his house. Around 3 a.m., a police sergeant who knew Dean went to the house and found the park ranger waiting outside.
“Just cuff me,” he told his friend.
Officers searched the house and found Connor and Brittany shot in their bedrooms. The children’s mother and Carrillo’s wife was found shot in another part of the house, police said.
Police said it appeared that Connor was shot in his sleep, and that the sound of the blast woke his sister. Brittany was flown to a hospital, where she died a few hours later.
Dean’s 77-year-old mother, who also lived at the home, was not harmed.
Dean’s ex-wife told the Washington Post shortly after the killings that her former husband often complained of having dreams about killing other people, but did not seek psychological help. She said he was a good man and never showed any signs of violence.
