Man kills wife and son, killed by police
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Man kills wife and son, killed by police
March 14, 1999
Reuters
(CHATHAM TOWNSHIP) A Morris County man has been shot dead by a police
officer
after killing his estranged wife and 8-year-old son. Authorities have
not
released the name of the family, but sources close to the investigation
say the
man's last name is Spranger, and the woman is Karen Knispel Spranger,
the
daughter of a former police chief. Police say Spranger stabbed his wife
and son
to death, and critically wounded his 3-year-old son before he was shot
dead
outside his family's Chatham Township, New Jersey, home. Investigators
say
there had been no reports of domestic violence before the incident.
------------------------------------------------------------
The following appears courtesy of today's Associated Press news wire:
Three dead, including attacker, after Morris County stabbing
CHATHAM, N.J. (AP) - A Chatham man who brandished a knife at a police
officer
was fatally shot, and police found the dead bodies of his wife and one
son
inside the home, authorities said.
Another son was hospitalized in critical condition with stab wounds.
Police arrived at the home of Karen Knispel, 44, and her two children,
Kevin
Spranger, 8, and Trevor Spranger, 3, at 6:30 p.m. Saturday after getting
a 911
call from one of Knispel's friends.
One of the two officers went around to the back of the house, where he
was
confronted by Thomas Spranger, 49, authorities said.
Spranger, who had been estranged from his wife since January, was
brandishing a
large kitchen-type knife, authorities said. The officer told him to drop
the
weapon, but Spranger continued to advance. The officer fired twice,
killing
Spranger, authorities said.
Police entered the residence and found Knispel, daughter of the town's
former
police chief, dead in the basement. Kevin Spranger was dead in the
living room,
and Trevor had been injured. All three had been stabbed multiple times.
Trevor was taken to Morristown Memorial Hospital, where he was in
critical
condition Sunday, authorities said. Autopsies on all of the deceased
were being
performed Sunday afternoon.
The couple had no police history of domestic incidents.
Authorities said that on the day of the attack, Knispel had called a
friend to
say she and Spranger had had a heated discussion about her relationship
with
someone else. When the friend called back, no one answered. The friend
went to
the property, saw Spranger's car, and called police.
AP-ES-03-14-99