US Man Fatally Stabs Wife, 2 Sons, Then Kills Himself In Murder-Suicide

NDTV

13-05-2025

A 42-year-old man in the United States allegedly killed his wife, two children and then died by suicide, authorities in Nebraska said. According to the Independent, Jeremy Koch fatally stabbed his wife, Bailey, 41, and two sons, Hudson, 18, and Asher, 16, before turning the knife on himself. The family of four were found dead with fatal knife wounds at their Johnson Lake home on Saturday. The incident took place just days after Koch was released from a psychiatric hospital, according to the officials.
An investigation is ongoing, and the Dawson County Attorney has ordered autopsies for the four family members, the Independent reported. "The Nebraska State Patrol, the Dawson County Sheriff's Office, Eustis Fire & Rescue and the Dawson County Attorney extend condolences to all, across multiple communities, who will be affected by this incident," the Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) said in a statement.
Bailey Koch's father, Lane Kugler, said that he found the bodies of all four victims in the home. He also said that his son-in-law, Jeremy Koch, had struggled with his mental health for years and that his wife was trying to get him help.
"What I saw will haunt me the rest of my life," Kugler wrote in a Facebook post. "This country's mental health care is a disaster. A catastrophe. Broken. And it's not getting any better, it's getting worse," he added.
Days before the incident, Bailey, a special education teacher in Holdrege, said that Koch had been released from a mental health hospital three days earlier. In another post, she said that her husband, whom she had first started dating in high school 25 years ago, was "diagnosed with severe depression in 2009".
"I have no pride left," she wrote, adding, "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."
In a GoFundMe page, launched just days before the incident, Bailey said that her husband's condition worsened in 2024, and in March. She also claimed that she awoke to her husband standing over her with a knife.
In her last Facebook post, Bailey said that they had submitted paperwork to their insurer in an attempt for Koch to be approved for Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation treatments, a non-invasive brain stimulation technique used for treating mental health conditions.
"Jeremy had been fighting mental illness for many, many years. His depression had turned into psychosis. It was not Jeremy that committed this horrific act. It was a sick mind," Bailey's parents wrote on their joint Facebook page.
According to the outlet, the deaths occurred hours before the oldest son's high school graduation. "Cozad Schools was made aware of a tragic situation that will deeply affect our Cozad community," the school district wrote. "In light of yesterday's tragedy, we understand that some students may be experiencing some difficulties," it added in a separate update Sunday.
The investigation into the deaths is ongoing, said the Nebraska State Patrol.