Mom awoke to husband standing over her with a knife just months before family-of-four were found dead
But despite desperate efforts since the incident two months ago, Bailey Koch was killed alongside her two sons on Sunday at the family's quiet lakeside home in Nebraska.
Jeremy Koch is believed to have stabbed the couple's two teenage sons, Hudson, 18, and Asher, 16, as well as his 41-year-old wife before turning the weapon on himself.
Only days earlier, Bailey had pleaded publicly for help with her husband's mental health before the unthinkable happened.
Just days before the killings, Bailey launched a GoFundMe campaign on May 4 titled 'Jeremy's Battle: Mental Health Support Needed,' in which she described her husband's severe depression and long history of suicide attempts dating back to 2009.
The page, which has since stopped receiving donations, included deeply personal details of the family's struggles with mental illness and recounted the chilling account with the knife.
'In March, just a couple months ago, I woke to Jeremy shaking me awake saying, "Something is wrong,"' Bailey wrote. 'He was standing over my bed with a knife ready to end his life. I was able to talk him down and into accepting help.
'He went to our safe place, Richard Young Hospital in Kearney, Nebraska, for inpatient mental health treatment for the fourth time in our marriage and stayed for four nights and five days. They tried to level out meds and keep him safe.'
Bailey wrote that her husband's condition worsened significantly in 2024. On May 3, she said Koch had survived at least four suicide attempts.
She went on to state how Jeremy had recently been released from inpatient care so that he could attend Hudson's high school graduation, which was scheduled to take place just hours after the family was found dead on Saturday morning.
'Our boys are doing well living their lives, and for that, we are thankful,' Bailey wrote on May 8. 'Please just pray Jeremy is able to somehow be with us on Saturday for our oldest son's high school graduation.'
Deputies from the Dawson County Sheriff's Office responded to the family home in the Johnson Lake community at around 9.45am on Saturday morning, May 9, after receiving a report of an unresponsive person.
When officers arrived at the house, located in the Plum Creek Canyon area, they found four individuals dead from what the Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) later confirmed to be fatal stab wounds.
Bailey Koch was a special education teacher at Holdrege Public Schools.
Her employer issued a statement shortly after the news broke saying, 'Our hearts are with everyone impacted by a tragic event that has deeply affected us all.'
The school district opened its middle school facilities later that afternoon for grieving staff and students.
Cozad Community Schools, where both Hudson and Asher were enrolled, also confirmed the deaths and expressed condolences in a Facebook post writing: 'Our thoughts are with all those impacted during this incredibly difficult time.'
After ending electroconvulsive therapy treatments earlier this year, Bailey explained how Jeremy had become 'a shell of himself.'
'Mental illness is taking my husband from me, and I'm begging you to open your eyes and see the reality that is this society's mental health crisis,' she wrote.
Son, Hudson, had plans to move to California after graduation for a bonsai apprenticeship.
His brother, Asher, a freshman, was a standout on his high school's varsity golf team.
Bailey's social media posts often expressed pride in her sons and determination to fight for her husband's recovery, but the family's situation had grown increasingly dire in recent months.
In her GoFundMe plea, Bailey wrote that Jeremy had become largely incapacitated - unable to eat, drink, or get out of bed without assistance.
'By not eating or drinking, Jeremy is slowly completing suicide,' she wrote.
She also detailed the financial collapse of their family business and the loss of both parents' retirement savings in an attempt to pay off mounting debt.
But there were also sparks of brightness with Bailey hopeful the family would come together for one of their son's graduations.
'Our boys are doing well living their lives, and for that, we are thankful,' Bailey wrote on May 8. 'Please just pray Jeremy is able to somehow be with us on Saturday for our oldest son's high school graduation.'
On the morning of May 10, any hope that remained fell apart.
Superintendent Dr Dan Endorf addressed the deaths during the Cozad High School graduation ceremony that same day.
'As you know, our community and our senior class experienced a tragedy within the past few hours,' he told those gathered.
'The bittersweet emotions felt by the senior class on their graduation day, and throughout this entire gymnasium for that matter, cannot be concealed in this moment.'
The Nebraska State Patrol continues to lead the homicide investigation.
Authorities have not yet released the official timeline of events or confirmed whether any notes or messages were found at the scene.
Bailey's parents, Lane and Peg Kugler, issued a public statement on Facebook mourning the loss of their daughter and grandsons, while also criticizing what they called systemic failures in the mental health care system.
In her final public messages, Bailey expressed growing frustration with the lack of resources available.
'Mental illness is taking my husband from me and I'm begging you to open your eyes and see the reality that is this society's mental health crisis,' she wrote.
She also described being forced to care for her husband at home because local hospitals were unable to admit patients without immediate suicidal ideation.
'Our safe place, Richard Young Hospital, doesn't have enough beds… This is mental healthcare in our world,' she wrote. 'It's all put back on the caregivers.'
Multiple community vigils are now being planned in both Holdrege and Cozad.
The Dawson County Attorney has also ordered autopsies for all four victims with results expected later in the week.
Officials say the investigation remains ongoing but no additional suspects are being sought.
No funeral plans have yet been announced.
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