Park Ranger 'Snapped' Before Slayings of Family, Court Told

Stressed out from working two jobs and with his marriage on the rocks, Prince William County park ranger Carrillo Dean came home one night in February to a house full of bickering, and, according to statements he made to police, he "snapped."

His two teenage stepchildren, Connor and Brittany Kirk, were arguing with his wife over homework and Bible study. When his wife, Elizabeth Dean, later began yelling at him as he tried to go to bed, Dean pulled a .45-caliber handgun from above his dresser, shot her in the head, then went to the children's bedrooms and shot them, too, according to court documents and police testimony.

He then called a friend who was a police sergeant, who approached Dean outside his house while the gun was on a nearby patio table. Dean said in a subdued tone, "Just cuff me," and turned his back.

Yesterday, Prince William Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Judge William Alan Becker ruled that there was sufficient evidence to send Dean's case to a grand jury for possible indictment. Dean, 44, is charged with killing his wife and stepson, and prosecutors said they will seek a third murder charge in the killing of Brittany Kirk, who died after the initial charges were filed.

The Feb. 12 triple slaying in Triangle left Dean's neighbors, co-workers and friends stunned. The account of that evening's events, laid out in statements Dean made to police and in police testimony yesterday, provided clues as to what could have driven him to slay his family: the accumulation of everyday household stresses.

"He said he just snapped, that his wife had been nagging him for two years now, and he just couldn't take it anymore," Detective Quenton T. Sallows testified yesterday.

Dean told police that he felt "trapped" in his marriage to Elizabeth, 45 -- who neighbors said was chronically sick -- and that she had accused him of cheating, court documents state. Dean also told police he had to take on a second job, although the family was keeping up with its bills.

"It's hard to conceive of why he'd bring children into a domestic situation between he and his wife," Commonwealth's Attorney Paul B. Ebert said. "Every marriage has stress, and thankfully, not many people react in this manner."

Ebert said that his office probably would seek capital murder indictments against Dean when the grand jury convenes next month but that he has not determined whether to seek the death penalty. Dean's attorney, Ronald W. Fahy, declined to comment after the hearing.

Dean, known to friends as "C.D.," was a senior ranger with the county's park authority. Park officials said he worked his shift the afternoon of the slayings and was his normal, jocular self.

According to a summary of statements Dean gave to police, he returned to his home in Triangle between 7:30 and 8 p.m. and heard everyone fighting. Connor wanted to go to bed, but his mother was angry because he had not finished his Bible study. In addition, Brittany and her mother were arguing over unfinished math homework.

Eventually the children went upstairs. Carrillo Dean stayed behind to unwind in front of the television. When he went upstairs to go to bed, his wife began yelling at him, and he lost it.

It's an explanation that Kelly Kirk -- uncle to Connor, 13, and Brittany, 14 -- said he finds difficult to understand.

"The fact that he had to take time and think about walking down the hall and killing two innocent kids, that changes everything," said Kirk, 39, of Alexandria. "I think that there's a lot more to it."