KNIGHTDALE, N.C. — A North Carolina man accused of impregnating his biological daughter is believed to have killed her, their infant son, and her adoptive father before turning the gun on himself in an apparent murder-suicide spanning three states, according to the suspect's defense attorney.
Steven Walter Pladl, 42, and Katie Rose Pladl, 20, were charged with incest after Katie gave birth to their son in September 2017, according to WTVR.
On Thursday, officers found the first body at 106 Earlston Court in North Carolina, where 7-month-old Bennett Pladl was discovered dead around 9 a.m. Police made the grisly find while performing a welfare check, according to Knightdale Chief of Police Lawrence Capps.
Then, police found a man and a woman shot to death in a pickup truck in New Milford, Connecticut, after a passerby reported the shooting, according to WTIC. The victims were identified as Katie Pladl and her adoptive father, 56-year-old Anthony Fusco, Capps said at a press conference Thursday.
Steven Pladl was found just miles away in Dover, New York, in a light blue minivan with North Carolina registration. According to Lieutenant Larry Ash, spokesperson for New Milford Police, they found the murder suspect with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Investigators are working to establish a timeline of events.
On March 16, Pladl, who was released on an amended bond by Henrico County Judge Stewart Williams, was not allowed contact with Katie Pladl or his two children, who live in Henrico. As a condition of his bond, he could no longer reside at the 106 Earlston Court home he shared with Katie, where the infant was found dead Thursday.
