Police Say Man Killed Twins, 5, in Fit of Anger

A man bludgeoned his 5-year-old twins to death with a sledgehammer Thursday because they were slow in getting ready for day care, police said.

“I just lost it,” police quoted Vincent Spik, 37, as saying. He was jailed on homicide charges.

Investigators said Spik also was agitated that he could find only one of the Power Rangers masks his children wanted to take to day care.

Spik called police in suburban Findlay Township and said, “I’ve just killed my children,” according to police. Spik, cellular phone in hand, was waiting for investigators in front of his house.

His son, Robert, was found in a pool of blood on the couch, and his daughter, Emily, was found in front of the TV set. Both had suffered multiple blows.

Spik’s 35-year-old wife, Susan, was at work as a bank clerk at the time of the slayings. Spik works at a business that makes high-tech doors.

Allegheny County Police Supt. Thomas Sturgeon said: “He thinks he just snapped. However, he had time enough after he snapped to go down to the cellar and get a hammer. . . . This is the kind of work that takes big, tough, strong police officers and brings them to their knees.”