A man from South California stabbed his parents, two sons and the pet dog saying it was his destiny to kill them, police reported Tuesday.
Nicolas Holzer, 45, first called law enforcement officials to alert them of the stabbings. The killings happened late Monday at his house near the University of California, Santa Barbara. Police arrested Holzer and found the bodies of his sons, aged 10 and 13, in the bedroom. The bodies of his father, 73, and mother, 74, were found in the den and in the doorway of the bedroom, respectively.
"This is another huge tragedy for our community," said Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown, referring to the May mass shooting, in which a gunman fatally shot six people and injured 13 near the UCSB campus, reports the Associated Press.
Holzer was charged with four counts of murder, and was being held without bail, Brown said. He was will appear in court Wednesday. Brown explained that Holzer called the deputies and told them he killed his family because he believed it was his destiny.
"When asked why he had committed these crimes, he claimed, 'I had to,'" Brown said, according to Noozhawk.
Court documents stated Holzer divorced his wife in 2006 and was given full custody of their two sons. The trio had been staying with Holzer's parents for the last seven years, reported the New York Daily News.
Holzer did not have a criminal history and there were no reports of police being summoned to his home. It was also not clear whether Brown suffered any mental health issues, but the matter is still under investigation.
