By David Lohr
February 22, 2007
PURNAM VALLEY, N. Y.. (Crime Library) — Located just 40 miles from New York City, this "town of lakes," as locals call it, is best known for its Donald J. Trump State Park and for being the birth place of actor Tom Welling, who plays Clark Kent on the hit television show Smallville. For a town that likes to distance itself from the daily violence and drama that takes place on streets of the Big Apple, it should come as no surprise that residents are at a loss for words over a murder-suicide that was discovered earlier this week in the small hamlet of Lake Peeksville.
On Monday, the New York State Police received a phone call from the mother of Lake Peeksville resident Steven Lessard, 51. According to Lessard's mother, she had been unable to reach or son or his family for several days and was concerned about their safety. Investigators soon discovered that Lessard's wife, Kathy, 48, never showed up for her job at Lowe's over the weekend, and the couple's daughter, Linda, 14, an eighth-grader at Putnam Valley Middle School, was absent from school.
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| Lessard home |
After arriving at 18 Maple Road, state police troopers failed to get a response from anyone inside the home, and the decision was made to gain entry by force. After breaking down the front door, the troopers discovered a horrifying scene to haunt them for the rest of their lives.
At the top of the stairway, troopers found the body of Steven Lessard slumped against a wall. In two adjoining bedrooms, they discovered the bodies of his wife and daughter. Writings at the scene suggested that Lessard had murdered the two before taking his own life. An official cause of death would have to wait until an autopsy could be performed later in the week. In the mean time, authorities wanted to know what could have driven this seemingly-happy man to murder his family and take his own life.
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