L.I. Lawyer Who Killed Family Had Financial Troubles

Photograph of Loyola College students mourning the death of classmate Stephanie Parente and her family by Kenneth K. Lam/Baltimore Sun via AP

Police sources say that William Parente apparently was in financial trouble when he killed his wife and two daughters (before killing himself) in a Maryland hotel room. Papers found in the hotel room indicted that investors wanted their money back from the lawyer's investment scheme. A friend told Newsday that "he took calls from the worried investors, who had given Parente as much as $6 million and as little as $50,000" and the Post suggests Parente may have handled $20 million of investor money.

Parente, wife Betty and their daughters Stephanie and Catherine lived in Garden City, and the 59-year-old lawyer worked out of a small office on Lexington Avenue in midtown Manhattan. The family had been visiting Stephanie, a student at Loyola College in Maryland, when Parente decided to end their lives. The Baltimore Sun says Stephanie was surprised by the visit, since she had just seen them during Easter break. Parente killed them one by one—over many hours—by first bludgeoning them and then strangling them. Later, after answering a call from Stephanie's friend who wondered where she was (he said she was staying with them for the night), Parente cut himself and bled to death in the hotel bathroom.

Lawyer Bruce Montague of Queens thought his investments with Parente were in short-term real estate loans. He had demanded his near $450,000 back after the Madoff scandal broke but Parente took a while to pay him back, only recently giving him six checks. The checks bounced, leading Montague to send a letter to Attorney General Andrew Cuomo suggesting he investigate the possible fraud. Montague released a statement through a colleague, "All monies involved were private money that can be replaced. What Mr. Parente did to his family is a great tragedy and unforgivable."

A family friend who placed flowers in front of the Parente home told the Post, "A lot of people have financial problems now. Why did he crack? Why did this happen? I can't imagine what Betty felt as he came towards her."