Police in West Greenwich, Rhode Island, remain stumped for answers after a father executed his pregnant wife and two young children and then fatally shot himself inside their home after ringing in the new year last week.
A press statement from West Greenwich Police Chief Richard Ramsay said officers were asked to do a wellness check at a home located at 15 Cheyenne Trail in West Greenwich at about 9:50 a.m. on Jan. 3.
When they arrived at the home and gained entry, they discovered the lifeless bodies of 39-year-old Danielle Arruda, who was seven months pregnant, along with her two children — 5-year-old Adele Arruda and 2-year-old Felex Aruda — with multiple gunshot wounds. Her husband Nicholas Arruda, 39, had a single bullet to the head.
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“All three victims suffered multiple gunshot wounds from a semi-automatic firearm,” Ramsay said of the mother and two children.
“The investigation, to date, has not yielded any explanation or clues as to why Nicholas Arruda committed this heinous crime against his family before taking his own life,” Ramsay added in his statement.
“I wish there could be an explanation to help you make sense of this horrific act,” he added in an another statement to The Providence Journal. “But the truth is we may never know why it happened.”
Ramsay said Danielle Arruda worked as a paralegal, and her co-workers asked police to do a wellness check on her after she failed to show up for work last Thursday.
“When she did not show up or call Friday morning, they felt something might be wrong. They were also concerned because she never misses work and was several months pregnant,” Ramsay noted.
When officers arrived at the home at around 10:13 a.m., they found two vehicles in the driveway. When no one answered the door after several calls, officers executed a forced entry and discovered the bodies of the family.
“It was apparent, there were no signs of life to any of the bodies and that all four had suffered fatal gunshot wounds. It was also apparent no one had exited the house because the door that was accessible to the outside was not only locked but had a safety chain latched, which could only be done from the inside,” Ramsay explained.
An M4-type semi-automatic weapon was found next to the body of Nicholas Arruda, which police believe is the murder weapon. Ramsey said all four family members were still wearing their pajamas when they were discovered, according to The New York Post.
Investigators theorize that the shooting occurred between 8 p.m. on New Year’s Day and 5:20 a.m. on Jan. 2, reports The Providence Journal.
Danielle Arruda’s family and friends were caught off guard by the murder-suicide. They told police the couple appeared to be living together happily.
Mikayla Ruffner Cihat, Danielle’s 26-year-old cousin who celebrated Christmas with the family, told The Journal the tragedy seems like something “out of the blue.”
Ramsey noted that even though Nicholas Arruda sometimes worked as a painter, he had been unemployed for several years due to a back injury.
“He was a stay-at-home dad who was homeschooling the children,” Ramsey said.
Sojourner House, an anti-violence agency in Providence, Rhode Island, mourned the late mother and her children in a statement on their Facebook page Wednesday.
“Today we learned the devastating news that Danielle Arruda and her two small children, Adele and Felex, were shot and killed by her husband in their West Greenwich home. Danielle, who worked as a paralegal, was seven months pregnant when she died,” the agency said.
“We grieve deeply for those that knew and loved her. This horrific act underscores the critical need for greater awareness, prevention, and support services for those affected by domestic violence. No one should live in fear within their own home,” the statement added.
Police said the family had been living in the home since 2019 and they had never been called to the home before.
Nicholas Arruda, however, had some criminal history.
“Nicholas Arruda had one prior felony domestic arrest in 2014. He was arrested by the West Warwick Police, but the case was dismissed when the victim refused to cooperate. The victim in the 2014 case was not Danielle Arruda,” Ramsay said.
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