Police Identify Family Massacred in Murder-Suicide Pact

 

ALLEN, TX -- The Allen Police Department has officially identified the family killed as a result of a murder-suicide pact made between two brothers.

According to law enforcement, 21-year-old Tanvir Towhid and 19-year-old Farhan Towhid killed their sister, parents, and grandmother before killing each other. 

The victims were identified as:

  • Altafun Nessa, 77
  • Iren Islam, 56
  • Towhidul Islam, 54
  • Farbin Towhid, 19

The family had moved to the area nearly eight years ago and their grandmother was visiting from Bangladesh. According to people familiar with the situation, she was set to return home last week but had been delayed due to the pandemic.

Investigators found a social media post where Farhan stated Tanvir and himself planned to murder their family. 

Parts of the note were discovered by local media outlets and in the note, Farhan says: “Hey everyone. I killed myself and my family.” 

“If I killed just myself, they would be miserable,” Farhan wrote. “I love my family. I genuinely do. And that’s exactly why I decided to kill them.”

He would then state he battled with depression since high school and said his brother was facing similar issues. According to Farhan, his older brother is the one who made the initial proposition.

“If we can’t fix everything in a year we’ll kill ourselves and our family," Tanvir allegedly told his brother.

But ultimately the brothers would only wait one month after they made the pact to murder their family.

In the letter, Farhan also stated he had been self-harming frequently and had undergone therapy and medication, but that the treatment had not been effective. He went on to say the "only reason for existence is happiness” and since he was not happy there was no reason to continue living.

Farhan then detailed the plan that would take the lives of everyone in his home.

“The plan was simple. We get two guns. I take one and shoot my sister and grandma, while my brother kills our parents with the other," Farhan wrote. "Then we take ourselves out.”

The social media post is what led authorities to conduct the welfare check after a friend of the family saw the post on Instagram.

“We went to the location to do a welfare check on that individual and through the investigation, the officers on the scene quickly realized that there were six deceased individuals in the residence,” said Sgt. Jon Felty, of the Allen Police Department.

“When I heard the news I couldn’t breathe for 20 to 30 minutes. How could it happen in a community like us? We’re so close and we visit each other and talk to each other, we have dinner and stuff, but inside the house… his children were unhappy for some reason and one thing led to another,” said family friend Shawn Ahsan. “We are heartbroken. I don’t know what else to say… ”

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