Mother’s Suicide Note Tells Why She Killed Her Daughters

A mother said in a suicide note that she killed her three daughters because they were unhappy living with their father.

Terri Lynn Esterak, 31, addressed the note to fiance Carlo DiPaolo, who read it at her funeral. Deputies on Monday found the letter with the bodies of Terri Esterak and daughters Erica, 13, Eden, 4, and Erin, 2, in a luxury villa at Indian Wells, an exclusive golf resort 20 miles east of Palm Springs.

Her former husband, Michael Esterak, had custody of the girls at his home in Long Beach. Esterak had temporary custody of her daughters during July, and they were supposed to return to their father last Sunday evening. Instead, she checked the girls into the Hyatt Grand Champions Villas. Sometime between Sunday morning and Monday afternoon, she killed the children and herself, Riverside County sheriff’s investigators said.

“This may not be right, but I hope God forgives me for doing this to our souls,” her note to DiPaolo said. “I love you and wish I could stay, but I cannot go on with my life while my children suffer.”

Michael Esterak’s attorney, Constance Bessada, said her client was a loving father.