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San Mateo Police officers identified the victims of a homicide that occurred in a San Mateo home on the 4100 block of Alameda de las Pulgas on Feb. 12 at 9:13 a.m.
Through fingerprinting, the adults were identified as Anand Henry and Alice Benziger, along with their twin boy children, who were identified through familial identification, according to a Feb. 15 press release from the San Mateo Police Department.
The investigation has found that both Henry and Benziger were wounded by gunshots. The release states the San Mateo Police Department, the County Coroner’s Office and the County Crime Lab have identified Henry as the suspect.
The 9mm handgun, found on the bathroom floor where both bodies were located, was legally registered to Henry. Benziger suffered from multiple gunshot wounds, while police found Henry was shot once. The cause of death for the twin boys is pending pathology tests, but officials confirmed it was not caused by gunfire.
Prior police reports show that there was no history of violence at the home. The family was found dead during a welfare check after the family was unable to be reached over the weekend. The police department estimates that the incident occurred sometime on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 10.
“Our investigation into the motive for this tragedy continues,” said Jeanine Luna, SMPD’s community relations officer, in the press release. “While we can’t undo this horrific incident, we would like to share with our community both domestic violence and mental health resources, because there is help and/or assistance out there, and something like this does not need to happen again.”
SMPD has provided a list of local mental health and domestic violence resources:
- Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse (CORA) is an organization aimed at providing support, safety and healing to victims of domestic violence. Visit www.corasupport.org for more information and call their 24-hour hotline, 1(800) 300-1080.
- San Mateo County Health-Mental Health Services provides 24/7 assistance through phone by calling 1(800) 686-0101. Visit www.smchealth.org/mental-health-services for more information on their resources.
- StarVista is an organization that offers counseling, case management, skill development and crisis prevention programs in San Mateo County. Their crisis hotline is open 24/7 at (650)579-0350. For more information visit www.star-vista.org/programs/crisis-center/
- Community members can use the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline by calling or texting 988 for help.
