Twin Sisters Attempt Suicide Pact At Gun Range - New Info

You may have seen this story floating around the news sites. Twin sisters attempted to kill themselves in a suicide pact at a shooting range not long ago.

At first police had thought someone shot them, but it turns out they shot each other. One of the twins was killed but the other managed to survive being shot in the head. She has confirmed that the two sisters had a suicide pact but she will not discuss what made them want to kill each other.

According to this article , it turns out that their father is a rich bank executive.

Of course, so was Umar Farouk's father.

It strikes me as odd that the surviving sister is refusing to say anything about the suicide attempt.

Further, two tried to kill themselves in Colorado, while their parents and home were in Australia.

A little background:

The twins were their only children, born after they moved to Australia from South Africa about 40 years ago. The girls grew up in Surrey Hills and appear to have led privileged lives.

Their father Ernest was a bank executive.

The sisters were students at Tintern Girls Grammar before shifting to Girton Grammar School in Bendigo, then to Methodist Ladies College back in Melbourne.

I'm convinced that Umar Farouk was brainwashed into doing what he did by some intelligence agency.

It makes me wonder if there might have been something going on with these two as well.

Range owner Doug Hamilton hopes the parents might be able to explain the suicide bid.

"That's the biggest mystery and what confounds us most at the moment," he said. "We need to understand this for closure. It's senseless."

The tragedy marked at least the seventh suicide involving rented guns at US shooting ranges this year, and the third at the Family Shooting Centre since 2004.

For Capt Perea, it is the most baffling of his 25-year police career.

"It is bizarre," he said.

"You have twin identical sisters who agreed to commit suicide. They came in from another country and decided to shoot themselves here in Colorado.

"Obviously there are a lot of questions we want answered.

"We asked those questions and they were not answered."

As Capt Perea says, there are just too many bizarre things about this case that don't add up.

Something stinks.

reply to post by mnemeth1


Technically this isn't "suicide." They shot each other, so it is a double-murder. Furthermore, the surviving twin should be tried for First-Degree Murder! If Kevorkian spent time in Jail for assisting ailing patients as an act of mercy, then deliberately shooting a healthy young person in the head should certainly result in jailtime!

In addition, the Range Owner should sue the family for loss of business, emotional distress, etc. This is a blemish on the record of that range, and on the reputation of gun owners and range goers.

This situation is sick in so many ways that I don't know where to start! If you add in a little bit of Conspiracy Theory you make this into an X-Files or Twilight Zone episode!

Sometimes the Truth really is stranger than Fiction!

It reminds me of all the strange sudden killings by young kids we have now and parents killing kids. The strange part being all the ones that everyone said were totally normal until they killed their friend or stranger or parent. It is like they have been triggered to kill.
I actually live where one happened and the sister of the 12 year old who committed the crime works with us. Her brother was friends with a family and was watching their 4 year old one day and went into the sleeping little boys room and stabbed him many many times then went into the kitchen and sat down and ate some cereal. he had never been odd or violent and is now in a mental institution.

Weird.

Maybe the fact that they "never went without", and "never had to "want" anything", as everything they ever wanted, they supposedly got..
Plays a part in this apparent 'weakness' .

Maybe they have always had things just handed to them..
and perhaps a time came, when they were in a situation that they could not just be "handed" anything they wanted....

and they didnt know how to deal with it...
So decided to exit.

Who knows.
Strange though.

When I was in HS,
There were two identical twins (boys),
who also killed themselves/each other in a "suicide pact".

But they used poison i believe,
not guns.

Hey,
Identical twins are *typically* soo close to each other...
maybe when one makes the final decision they no longer want to exist in these bodies....
Perhaps it is just "triggers" the other to do the same..
Kinda like a "it would be too painful without you" type thing...
Idunno..

reply to post by mnemeth1

I'm convinced that Umar Farouk was brainwashed into doing what he did by some intelligence agency.

Was he the underwear bomber guy?

BTW - Attempting double suicide via having each party shoot the other is probably the dumbest idea I ever heard. The chances of it not working out are pretty high (as evidenced by the outcome in this case).

I wonder if there's any connection with those 2 Swedish nutcakes in Great Britain that threw themselves in front of traffic repeatedly and then ultimately one of the 2 sisters ended up murdering someone else a few days after that bizarre event on the highway....

reply to post by getreadyalready


They didn't shoot each other. They both shot themselves at the same time. That is why no murder charges for the surviving sister.

The guns used were both .22 caliber -- one revolver and one a semi-automatic, officials said, adding that one of the sisters was pronounced dead at the scene.

No criminal charges are contemplated as attempted suicide is not a violation in Colorado.

Pressed about a possible Columbine lead over the shootings, Perea said: "We're not following any leads. What we have to do is to look and determine if we believe a crime occurred.

"We do not believe a crime occurred. They shot themselves," he said.

www.google.com...

Just another reason you should invest in a suicide booth business early -

People should be free to end it all and other people should be free to oblige them, for a fee of course.

Anyhow, I think it is hard to understand what motivated this unless we are given a confession of sorts, all else is conjecture.

P.S Not Murder IMO -

reply to post by Erasurehead


Thank you. I didn't read the link, just the OP, and the OP mistakenly said "shot each other."

Still an odd and sad story, but at least no charges.

They sure seem anxious for this one to fade away quickly:

IDs reveal which Australian twin died at shooting range - The Denver Post
Sheriff's investigators do not believe that Candice Hermeler committed any crime and there will be no need to further interview her, Perea said.
"As far as we're concerned," Perea said, "the case is closed."

and they are backing away from the Columbine link:

IDs reveal which Australian twin died at shooting range - The Denver Post
Perea addressed media reports that a link to the 1999 Columbine killings was found among the women's possessions. He said the link consisted only of a photocopy of a Time magazine cover, from May 3, 1999, that depicted shooters Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris.
"There were no other clippings or documents, nothing else on Columbine," Perea said. Candice denied any interest in the case and there was no other evidence to suggest a link, Perea said. When investigators asked Candice about the magazine cover, Perea said, Candice replied: "I don't give a (expletive). It happened a long time ago."


Now you see it and now you don't, and down the memory hole it goes!!

Originally posted by getreadyalready
reply to post by mnemeth1

 

Technically this isn't "suicide." They shot each other, so it is a double-murder. Furthermore, the surviving twin should be tried for First-Degree Murder! If Kevorkian spent time in Jail for assisting ailing patients as an act of mercy, then deliberately shooting a healthy young person in the head should certainly result in jailtime!

In addition, the Range Owner should sue the family for loss of business, emotional distress, etc. This is a blemish on the record of that range, and on the reputation of gun owners and range goers.

This situation is sick in so many ways that I don't know where to start! If you add in a little bit of Conspiracy Theory you make this into an X-Files or Twilight Zone episode!

Sometimes the Truth really is stranger than Fiction!

Everything you point out makes it perfect fodder for the anti-gunners. I can hear it now we must outlaw these gun ranges and the renting of guns to protect potential suicides from themselves... Which give merit to the possible brainwashing conspiracy.

www.nzherald.co.nz...
The twins... were in the US on 90-day cultural exchange visas...

I guess the big question is what they were doing during that 12 week period, especially the last five weeks they spent in Denver, as they claim. But how do they know they had been there for five weeks? The only thing I can think of is the La Quinta Inn register had them signing in five weeks prior. But that would only prove they had been in that hotel; it raises the possibility that their entire visit had been spent in Denver. And who exactly sponsored their visit, and for what reason?

www.illawarramercury.com.au...
The "cultural exchange visa" widely reported as their entree requires an American organisation or individual to act as sponsor. Captain Perea* said it was not known who had sponsored the sisters. Nor was it known for whom they had worked or whom they had trained with, as required under the terms of the visa.

Training? Well, the only 'training' I have heard of is this:

www.thedenverchannel.com...
One sister had gun training two weeks before the shooting, and both showed up at the range about a week later for additional gun training...

Now I really want to know who sponsored them. And why hasn't their gun instuctor been questioned?


Also this odd note, which only this source reported:
www.illawarramercury.com.au...
--Police had said earlier that after the shooting unidentified personal effects were found near the women.

Huh? I wonder if they have "identified" them by this time?


*For what it's worth, in 1999 the current ACSO spokesman was Sgt. Louie Perea, ACSO SWAT.
On 4-20, he responded to CHS at about 1pm. He is vague on what exactly he was doing there, but one of his jobs was to guard the main library doors after the library had been secured. (see 8285) So he was in a position to see and hear plenty. The perfect Columbine gatekeeper.

Some new info, and some more questions:

www.smh.com.au...
The Melbourne woman who shot herself dead at a US firing range as part of a suicide pact with her twin had made her sister the executor of her will, police say. Kristin and Candice Hermeler had contacted Melbourne lawyer Ken Hanlon by email to discuss their wills... . Kristin, who died, had named Candice as executor and taken her will with her to Colorado.

[What good is an executor if she's dead too? This implies only Kristin was supposed to die, which is of course inconsistent with a double suicide.]


The sisters were on three-month sabbaticals from their jobs in Australia, said Patty Walsh, the general manager at La Quinta Inn where the twins were staying before the shooting. Ms Walsh told the Denver Post that one twin was a school administrator and the other was a business administrator.

['Sabbaticals?' University professors and high level business executives get to go on sabbatical, not low level workers.]


The women rented separate rooms next door to each other and often came and went separately from the hotel in the month before the shooting.

[So what were they doing in all that time? Why wait 90 days if you're only there to commit suicide?]


Investigators found several personal documents in their belongings including birth certificates, tax identification and school diplomas... .

[You don't need any of that to commit suicide. But you might need it if you're applying for some kind of professional position or program.]



www.denverpost.com...
They... had asked to rent larger-caliber guns but were told that since they hadn't shot before, they needed to start with .22-caliber handguns, a Sheriff's Office report said.

[They hadn't shot before? They were at that range two times already!]


A video at the shooting range confirmed that each of the women shot herself and that when they fired, both fell straight backward.

[So now the video actually shows them shooting themselves? Before they said the video only showed them falling to the ground.]


Kristin had placed her gun in her mouth. Candice was wounded in the forehead.

[That contradicts earlier info:
www.nzherald.co.nz...
"...the Australian identical twins were found slumped on the floor of their stall, each with a single bullet wound to the forehead".
If they both had bullet wounds to the forehead, it suggests they pointed their guns at each other and then fired. Which would mean the surviving twin would be legally culpable of murder, which means they would have to try her for the crime.]


The only time (Patty Walsh, the general manager at La Quinta Inn) saw them together again was Nov. 15, when they checked out, paying cash.

[Except the official version now says investigators found all their stuff in their rooms, which of course means they hadn't checked out. And she doesn't mention why they checked out on the 12th, and checked right back in the next day. ]

I wonder if they weren't just a couple of crazy broads with too much time and money on their hands.