Man Kills His Ex-Wife’s 4 Children, Self

The ex-husband of a Merced veterinarian walked into her home Tuesday morning in one of the town’s best neighborhoods, shot to death her four children and then killed himself, authorities said.

John P. Hogan, a former Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputy, was found dead on his ex-wife’s bed, holding the body of their 5-year old, Michelle.

The other victims--who were not Hogan’s children--had been killed in other parts of the four-bedroom house in Robinson Estates, just outside the city. Melanie, 17, the oldest, was lying in a hallway outside her bedroom. Her two brothers, Stanley, 15, and Stuart, 14, apparently had been shot while asleep in their bedrooms, said Sgt. Tom Cavallero of the Merced County Sheriff’s Department.

Hogan’s ex-wife, Christine McFadden, returned to the scene from a morning walk with a neighbor shortly after 7 a.m. Hogan’s car was parked outside. She saw Melanie’s body, went to her neighbor’s home and called police. Deputies found the other children when they arrived and searched the house. A handgun lay on the bed next to Hogan and Michelle.

Cavallero said investigators were treating the slayings as a murder-suicide, but did not know the motive.

McFadden is well-known in the community and runs one of the larger veterinary practices in town. She and Hogan had been divorced for about a year.

“Her kids were everything to her,” said Dr. Leah Hill, a friend and fellow veterinarian. “This is the most devastating thing I’ve ever heard.”

The children were extroverted, bright and well-liked, school administrators said Tuesday as stunned students mourned.

At Our Lady of Mercy Catholic school, which all four had attended, hundreds of students, parents and graduates jammed into the gym for a Mass on Tuesday afternoon.

The eighth-graders left a seat empty for their dead classmate, Stuart. His portrait had been placed on the chair, along with flowers and balls from the three athletic teams he played on: basketball, baseball and soccer. “It was very difficult,” said Father Mike Lastiri, the pastor of Our Lady of Mercy-St. Patrick’s Church. As a deacon he had baptized Melanie 17 years ago.

At Golden Valley High School, where Melanie was a junior and Stanley a freshman, the principal announced their deaths over the public address system soon after classes began.

Melanie was running for vice president of next year’s senior class in an election set for the end of this week, said Principal Ralf Swenson. Friends quietly removed her campaign posters from the school quad.

“They were very positive and engaging kids,” Swenson said. “It’s unbelievable anybody would do this.”

Melanie was a cheerleader, a straight-A student and prize-winning member of the speech team who had her sights set on an Ivy League college and medical studies. Stanley played football and baseball.

Stuart had recently been a hit in a comic role in a school performance, said Our Lady of Mercy Principal Brenda Feehan. Michelle, the baby of the family, attended preschool there.

McFadden started her practice in Merced about 20 years ago with her first husband, Thomas Willis. He is the father of the three oldest children, who bore his last name.

Authorities had little information on Hogan, 49. He left the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department on a medical retirement in 1993 after 10 years with the force. Cavallero said Hogan had done private investigative work and lived in the Merced area after he and McFadden divorced.