A family of four was found dead in an apparent murder-suicide last night in a tony Westchester town.
Cops came upon the horrifying scene in the home on Lambert Ridge Road in Cross River around 3:40 p.m. after the wife’s business partner called saying she was concerned.
The business partner hadn’t heard from Amy Friedlander all day, which she said was unusual, according to cops.
“It’s not often we get a call like this,” State Police Maj. Michael Kopy said during a news conference this morning.
When officers arrived, they found the bodies of the couple — Amy and Sam Friedlander — and their children, Molly, 10, and Gregory, 8.
Kopy said Sam Friedlander killed his wife and children, then killed himself.
The parents were going through a divorce and had put their luxurious, nearly $1-million home up for sale in recent months, The Journal News reported.
The couple was slated to appear in court Thursday for a divorce hearing.
Cops said Sam Friedlander shot the kids in their torsos while they slept in their beds with a 12-gauge shotgun. They were covered with quilts after being shot.
His wife was bludgeoned with the leg from a piece of furniture, Kopy said.
Friedlander then shot himself in the head in the basement, police said.
Abid Hussain, who lives near the Friedlanders, said the parents were devoted to their children.
“I used to see the mom and father putting them on the bus, they had beautiful kids,” he told The Post. “The father was always playing with the kids outside.”
Another neighbor in the normally quiet town was also stunned by the horrific bloodshed.
“They were really great neighbors, really nice. Everybody is completely shocked here at what happened,” said the woman, who didn’t want her name published.
“People are traumatized that something like this could happen in our perfect neighborhood.”
Rabbi Carla Friedman, of the Jewish Family Center where the children attended religious school, said Molly and Gregory were “very happy and engaged students.”
Sam Friedlander was “was very quiet. [His wife] was more outgoing and more engaging. She made a point of working with us because she was concerned about continuing their religious education”
Amy Friedlander told the rabbi that the family was having financial problems.
Kopy said there were indications that Sam Friedlander had begun “acting irrationally” in the past week but he didn’t offer specifics.
“Nobody said anything like this would happen,” he said.
State Police Maj. Michael Kopy said Sam Friedlander killed his wife and children, then killed himself. (Facebook)
Lewisboro Police Chief Frank Secret said he wasn’t aware of any reports of domestic violence at the home. But Kopy said cops responded in 2006 to the house for a domestic incident “regarding the care of the kids.”
Amy Friedlander’s partner, Deborah Bernstein, said, “We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Amy Friedlander and her children Molly and Gregory. Amy was not only a business partner but a personal friend and loving mother. She will be truly missed by us and the community at large.”