Lake Minnetonka Murder-Suicide Still Weighs Heavy On Small Town Police
GREENWOOD, Minn. (WCCO) -- The horrific story made national headlines when a family of five was found dead in their Lake Minnetonka mansion.
Now, for the first time, we're hearing from the people who arrived first on scene and the personal toll it's taken on a small police department.
Brian Short shot and killed his wife and their three children last fall before turning the gun on himself.
The call to 911 came at 12:20 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 10.
Sgt. Jim Williams of the South Lake Minnetonka Police Department was dispatched to the scene.
"A co-worker had called and said that Brian hadn't shown up for work," Williams said.
The caller said his kids also hadn't shown up at school.
"He had recently inquired about life insurance policies, death benefits, suicide clause, things like that," Williams said. "With all of that information going into the call, that made it different than a typical welfare check."
Williams had no idea just how different.
He remembers walking through an unlocked back door of the Greenwood home.
"Horrific," he said. "It was the worst thing I've ever seen."
He first found the body of Brian Short's wife, Karen, in her bedroom, next to a cordless phone.
"I was also terrified," Williams said. "Because I knew there were kids that were missing, that I didn't know where they were, and I was afraid of what I was going to find next."
Seventeen-year-old Cole, 15-year-old Madison, and 14-year-old Brooklyn were all dead in their own beds. Their dad had killed himself in the garage.
Detective Mike O'Keefe worked the case from day one.
"It took its toll on everybody," he said.
But it's what didn't stand out that still haunts the 14-person police department of South Lake Minnetonka.
"It just seemed to be a normal home," O'Keefe said. "A school bag and clothes lined up for the first day of school. Those are the things that seemed to have a lasting impression, especially on me."
O'Keefe led the investigation into trying to find answers, sifting through emails, legal documents and several home safes.
An interview with Brian Short's office manager became perhaps the most telling piece of all.
Brian Short had founded AllNurses.com, a social media website for nurses more than 20 years ago.
His office manager told police she handled all of the company's and the Short's personal bills. Earlier that summer, Brian Short asked to get up to speed.
She said that's when he first learned what it cost to run his company and his lifestyle, including paying quarterly taxes of over $200,000.
His colleague said concerns over steep revenue cuts and a large defamation lawsuit against his company led to "severe anxiety."
He began seeing a therapist and was prescribed medication.
A neighbor told police just days before his death that Brian Short made a hand gesture in the shape of a gun, put it to his head and said, "It's just overwhelming."
Despite evidence of financial and mental health issues, South Lake Minnetonka Police could never establish a clear motive. Investigators closed the case around Christmas-time.
"Unfortunately, we're never going to know the series of events that happened in that residence, we're never going to have a clear understanding of why," O'Keefe said.
As a father himself, O'Keefe admits his personal struggle had been focused on his feelings about Brian Short.
"They don't know the side of him that I saw, and I don't know the side of him that they saw," O'Keefe said. "He's not a monster, even thought it was a monstrous act that we saw happen in this house. He was a completely different person to them."
A snow-covered teddy bear is the only sign of what happened in the Short house five months ago. As police can now only hope, others will hear their message if they sense trouble in their own families.
"If you notice something in yourself or a loved one that is different, then you need to talk about it," O'Keefe said. "People need to talk to somebody."
Family members declined to be interviewed for this story. In a statement from Karen's sister, Kelly Wilhelm, she said they're focused on coping and working through their grief.
"I think it has been talked about enough in that all who knew them know they were a beautiful family and no one would have imagined in a million years this could or would happen," the statement said. "Even given all of the information I personally or anyone else knows, we will never truly have a definite answer as to how or why this could happen, it's beyond bewildering. I search for answers continually. At some point I will be pursuing avenues regarding more research into possible causes with hopes of opportunities for prevention. Our prayer and deepest hope is for this to never happen to anyone else ever again."
The South Lake Minnetonka Police Department did go through a debriefing session with its officers after this happened. Looking back, the department believes some officers likely needed more help and they plan to offer more help to first responders in the future.
The lawsuit against Brian Short's company has been allowed to continue. The next court date in the case is scheduled for next month.
