Yesterday, FBI agents raided the Lexington Avenue office of William Parente. Parente killed himself after killing his wife and two daughters in a Maryland hotel room last week—the Long Island family had been visiting the eldest daughter at college. Based on some papers left in the room, it's believed Parente was in financial trouble. Newsday reports, "Investors have said Parente used the money to make high-interest commercial bridge loans" (with high returns) and that the FBI has spoken to many individuals who invested $20 million with Parente over the past two decades. Some investors had demanded their money back, but Parente stalled on giving them the money and when he did, the checks bounced. One person said, "No one questioned him, because everyone knew him. I don't understand where the money could have gone." The FBI left the office with dozens of file boxes and a hard drive. more ›

A Long Island lawyer who killed his wife and two daughter before taking his own life will be cremated and not be a part of the family's funeral mass and viewings. Newsday reports there's a special service tomorrow for Betty Parente, 58, and daughter Catherine, 11, and Stephanie, 19; their wakes will be on Monday, followed by a funeral and burials on Tuesday. The funeral service for William Parente, 59, who bludgeoned then asphyxiated his family one by one at a Maryland hotel on Sunday and later cut himself so he bled to death, will be private. Parente apparently had a side business giving high-interest loans for real estate—but it's unclear what his financial dealings were, since checks to investors started to bounce this week. Stephanie Parente's suitemates at Loyola shared stories about their friend with Newsday, "Stephanie spoke to her mother every day. She adored Catherine, who visited on Loyola's sibling day... She took cell phone pictures of herself doing things like watching television and sent them to her." more ›

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. more ›