‘Mixed Feelings’ Prevalent at McGowan Family Service

Hundreds of friends and family members attended an emotional memorial for a popular Riverside County family Thursday, with many still wondering why a respected county investigator would kill his family and himself.

Riverside County Dist. Atty. investigator David McGowan, his wife and their three children and his mother were remembered with smiling pictures, tolling bells and carefully chosen words during the service at Southwest Community Church in Indian Wells.

“There were a lot of mixed feelings in there,” said family friend Heidi Crew, of Palm Springs, who attended the funeral. “People wanted to pay homage to a man they respect, but it was quite unusual knowing what had happened.... You understand bad things happen in the world, but no one understands this.”

In the early-morning hours of May 10, as his family slept in their Pine Meadow ranch home in southwest Riverside County, McGowan shot his 42-year-old wife, Karen; his 75-year-old mother, Angela; and the couple’s three children: Chase, 13; Paige, 10; and Rayne, 8.

The former Cathedral City police detective then shot himself. He left behind a note stating, “Woe is me. I’m looking forward to seeing you in the next life,” and a copy of the lyrics from the Los Lonely Boys’ hit song “Heaven.”

Riverside County Sheriff Bob Doyle, who did not attend the memorial, said the investigation into the murder-suicide would intensify now that the funeral was over. Detectives still are trying to determine what led to the killings and whether troubles related to his work, or financial or marital problems were factors.

“We’ve been laying low, letting the family have the funeral, but we’ll start asking them the tough questions,” Doyle said. “The investigation is not over. There’s a lot of legwork still to do: interviewing family members and friends, waiting on forensics tests, ballistics and toxicology reports.”

Inside Southwest Community Church, the McGowans were tearfully remembered by co-workers, neighbors and family members.

Joyce Donahue, a former neighbor of the McGowans, said one of the service’s most memorable moments came when Kelly Leonesio, Karen McGowan’s sister, spoke about David and said, “I love you for what you always were to this family.”

“It took a lot to say that, I’m sure,” Donahue said after the service.

During the service, Cathedral City firefighters rang bells to honor a fallen firefighter -- a tribute to Karen McGowan, who met her husband while she was working for the Cathedral City department.

The memorial also included a video presentation of the family, and the music included Celine Dion’s “The Prayer,” and a religious song alluding to the as-yet-unknown cause of the tragedy, “I Know He Knows.”

Family members wearing sunglasses wept as they escorted five brown wooden caskets from the church to five hearses.

Pastor Gabriel Bejjani of Seventh Day Baptist Church will preside over the funeral service for Angela McGowan, who attended the church in Riverside. He said Thursday’s service was intended to deliver a message of hope.

“There is nothing that can be made sense of, but the hope can be latched onto,” Bejjani said. “The hope of Angela, Karen and the children, and even in Dave. In his song lyrics that he left behind, he was looking for ‘heaven.’ We don’t know why he snapped, but we know he had the hope to reach ‘heaven.’ ”