Authorities identify father as shooter in murder-suicide

3-month-old shot while in mother's arms, investigators say

FREDERICK, Md. —A Frederick County father killed his wife and infant child before turning the gun on himself last week, according to Frederick County sheriff's investigators.

Police said that while they can't prove it, there is evidence that shows Benyam Asefa, 40, of New Market, did not mean to kill the couple's infant as the bullet that killed his wife went through her and into their son.

As far as a motive, investigators said there was a history of undocumented domestic trouble.

It was Wednesday night when, police said, Barbara Giomarelli, 42, was putting her 5-year-old daughter in for a bath when she got into a heated argument with her husband.

The two left the bathroom arguing, went downstairs and police said Asefa shot his wife in the head, which also killed their infant son, Samuel, whom she was holding.

"Based on the information, obviously, one bullet was fired, it entered the mother, exited the mother and struck the child who she was holding," Frederick County Sheriff's Department Capt. Tim Clarke said. "That one shot caused the death of both individuals."

Police then said Asefa turned the 9 mm pistol on himself. All the while, their 5-year-old daughter was upstairs in the bathtub not knowing what had just happened.

"She went ahead and played, took a bath, she described it as a considerable amount of time, did call for assistance to be removed, no one came, then she exited, got dressed and went downstairs," Clarke said.

When she went downstairs, she saw her mother, father and brother dead in the kitchen and living room areas and ran to a neighbor, who called police.

Through their investigation, police found out Asefa had lost his job as a government contractor in September because of budget cuts. He had been working for the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick.

Giomarelli, who had previously been unemployed, was scheduled to begin a new job in December.

Police also determined through interviews that the couple had a history of domestic issues but kept them hidden from police.

"We understood that there were domestic problems in the past; however, there's no detail as to physical or verbal (abuse). We don't have information, but we are aware of some domestic problems that weren't reported to authorities," Clarke said.

Investigators said the 9 mm gun used was registered to Asefa.

While they still have a few housekeeping interviews to conduct, sheriff's deputies considered the case closed.