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Friday, Nov. 23, 2007 Dad kills three children, ex-wife in murder-suicide by Titus Ledbetter III | Staff Writer
Television crews at the scene of a domestic murder-suicide at Unity Park in Unity, near Damascus and Laytonsville, on Friday. Five people — including three children ages 6, 10 and 12, and their parents — were found dead Thursday night.
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Three children, their mother and father were found dead late Thursday night at a small upcounty park in the Damascus area near the Howard County line, and police say the incident is a domestic murder-suicide.
Gail Louise Pumphrey, 43, of Woodbine and her sons, 6 and 12, and daughter, 10, were found in two separate vehicles near the entrance to Unity Park, 3724 Damascus Road, at 9:20 p.m., according to Lt. Porsha Jones, director of the Media Services Division for Montgomery County Police.
Police found the gunman, David Peter Brockdorff, 40, of Frederick with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a wooded area next to the park. A .22 caliber rifle was found with him, police said.
Police believe the rifle was used to kill Pumphrey and the children, according to Capt. Thomas Didone, commander of the 5th District Police station.
Pumphrey and Brockdorff, the children’s father, were divorced in January, according to court records. Jones said the couple filed for divorce in 2005 and have a history of domestic violence.
Brockdorff met Pumphrey, who had physical custody of the children, at the park to pick up the children for a Thanksgiving visit.
Police say they have no clear motive in the shootings.
Brockdorff arrived at the park in a Nissan Altima that was reported stolen earlier this week in Frederick County, police said. Pumphrey and her daughter were found in her Ford Taurus in the park. The two boys were in the Altima, which was also in the parking lot, Jones said.
A Maryland-National Capital Park Police officer notified county police of the incident after finding the bodies near the park entrance, in Unity, a rural community east of Laytonsville.
It is the fourth murder-suicide in Montgomery County this year. Two of the incidents occurred in Silver Spring and one occurred in Boyds, Jones said.
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