Alleged Child Killer an Apparent Suicide

A New Hampshire father who authorities believe murdered his two children, then drove their bodies halfway across the country, was found dead Thursday in his jail cell, officials said.

Manuel Gehring, 44, apparently took his own life in the Merrimack County Jail, according to New Hampshire Atty. Gen. Peter Heed. Heed said Thursday that Gehring strangled himself, but offered no details.

Fourteen-year-old Sarah Gehring and her brother, Philip, 11, were last seen at a Fourth of July fireworks show in Concord, N.H. Witnesses saw the children get into the family van with their father.

Authorities say Gehring shot his son and daughter shortly afterward in the van. He drove to western Pennsylvania and bought a shovel, then began a cross-country odyssey. Somewhere along the way Gehring buried the children. He told New Hampshire officials that he placed a cross made of duct tape on each child’s chest before burying them.

Gehring was arrested a week later in Gilroy, Calif. He admitted killing the children and burying them somewhere along Interstate 80. Gehring said he was not certain what state the children’s grave was in, but thought it might have been Indiana or Ohio.

A search by officials from New Hampshire and several Midwestern states failed to find the bodies. Gehring joined in the search.

Gehring and his ex-wife, Teresa Knight, were embroiled in a custody dispute about Sarah and Philip.

Although he did not deny killing the children, Gehring pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges. His trial date was set for Sept. 7.

Gehring’s lawyer, Barbara Keshen, said Thursday that her client suffered from “a deep and undiagnosed major depression for most of his life. That illness distorted his judgment and led to unimaginable acts, including, likely, taking the lives of his children and his own life.”

Keshen, a New Hampshire public defender, called Gehring “a charming man who was held prisoner to his past.”

Gehring was an accountant who lost his job shortly before his children disappeared.

Heed said Gehring’s death makes finding the children’s bodies “problematic” but does not eliminate hope. New Hampshire authorities have said they will resume their hunt for the graves after the winter weather passes.