"Devout Catholic" Murders Sister, Commits Suicide

"WYANDOTTE, MI - Police in Wyandotte find the bodies of an elderly brother and sister inside their home. It's possible a family death may have lead to a murder-suicide.

"For more than three decades, Mike Ososkie came to know the Stanaks as a warm, loving family. 72-year-old Peter Stanak lived at the home with his two sisters. On holidays, Ososkie always got a handmade card with season's greetings.

"`It was a brother and two sisters that we lived next door to for 30 plus years. They looked after each other. It was as close of a family as you could find,` said Ososkie.

"However, police say after one of the sisters -- Mary Stanak -- died of natural causes last week, Peter Stanak was overcome with grief. At 9:30 Tuesday morning with a key from Ososkie, they entered the home on 22nd Street and discovered two dead bodies.

"Police say Peter Stanak had shot his 82-year-old sister Patricia in the head while she slept and then went into his own bedroom and turned the gun on himself. Neither of the siblings had children or were married.

"`The mind's a very, very delicate thing, and I'm afraid maybe that's what happened is that Pete just... couldn't understand the loss of the one sister,` Ososkie said.

"Peter Stanak, who worked as an amateur artist, had been a devout Catholic. Ososkie [said] he never missed a church service with his sisters. `I don't think he was the same Pete Stanak that I knew when the situation happened,` he said."

From FOX Detroit...