Murder/Suicide Suspected In "Horrific" Trailer Park Killings

"BRUNSWICK, GA - Police are investigating the deaths of seven people found Saturday in a mobile home as a murder-suicide involving mostly members of one family, a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation [said].

"The law enforcement source and a woman familiar with the victims and the trailer park in the New Hope Plantation, said most of the victims were family members of Rusty Toler, a hard-working, soft-spoken man who loved his children.

"Toler and three of his four children are among those dead, while a fourth child is hospitalized in critical condition, said the woman who knows the family. Another gravely wounded victim, said to be a grandchild of Toler's, is also hospitalized, the woman said.

"The other dead include a man and woman who are either direct siblings or half-brother and half-sister to Toler. A seventh victim was the boyfriend of one of Toler's daughters, according to the source.

"Tight-lipped Glynn County police chief Matt Doering was planning a news conference today to further discuss what he described as a `horrific` scene in the area's worst carnage ever.

"The son of one of the victims found them about 8 a.m. Saturday in the mobile home park 10 miles north of Brunswick. State medical examiners are working today to determine how the victims were killed.

"The survivors were taken to a Savannah hospital for treatment, and the seven bodies are at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Savannah crime lab for autopsies.

"Doering reported no arrests Saturday night and said then he was unsure if the person or persons responsible for the killings are among the dead - or still on the loose.

"`Do I believe there's someone else out there? The answer is I don't know, I wish I could tell you more,` Doering said.

"Some of the victims have been tentatively identified, but Doering said Saturday he would release no names or ages until the next of kin were notified. He said there were some school-age children and middle-age adults among the victims.

"County Coroner Jimmy Durden said the victims appeared to have been killed overnight. Their bodies were discovered lying on the floor and beds inside the mobile home.

"Because of the severity of the injuries, their identities and manner in which they were slain could not be readily determined."

From the Augusta Chronicle...