Misery drove dad, Troy Geller, to kill young sons, self, note says

Sunday, September 26, 2010 10:31 PM
Updated: Sunday, September 26, 2010 11:22 PM

BY JIM WOODS
The Columbus Dispatch

A man and two children were found dead in an Upper Arlington home tonight, but police were not revealing details about how they died.

Upper Arlington police and firefighters were called to 1759 Doone Rd. at 7:45 p.m.

A woman had gone to her house and found the man and two children dead inside, Police Officer Heather Galli said.

Police refused to confirm whether they are investigating the case as a double murder-suicide, but Galli did say they are not searching for anyone. The woman is under a physician's care, Galli said.

A rescue squad pulled up to a house next door to 1759 Doone Rd. and took one person from that residence.

Franklin County auditor's records show that the home is owned by Troy and Sarah Geller, both 35. The couple's two sons, Solomon, 8, and Samson, 6, also live at the house.

The Gellers are both licensed pharmacists.

A neighbor, who did not want his name used, said Troy Geller chose to be a "stay-at-home dad" while his wife worked outside the home. Both of the children attend Barrington Elementary School in Upper Arlington.

The neighbor said he was watching television when his front yard suddenly was lit up by the beacons from police and fire vehicles.

Neighbors huddled in small groups on their front lawns along the tree-lined street as police cordoned off the two-story house. One woman said, "People are in shock about this right now."

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Police call deaths of 3 in Arlington murder-suicide

Monday, September 27, 2010 11:26 PM
BY STEPHANIE CZEKALINSKI

The Columbus Dispatch

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Solomon Geller
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Samson Geller

Before taking the lives of his young sons and then shooting himself to death, Troy Geller wrote a note explaining his desire to protect them from a life of misery.

"I will shield S&S from a life filled with confusion, questioned allegiances, guilt, hopelessness, co-dependence and insecurity," Geller said in the note, which was left in his Upper Arlington home on Sunday.

Solomon, 8, and Samson, 6, were shot multiple times in the head and chest, said Franklin County Coroner Jan Gorniak.

Mr. Geller, 35, died of a gunshot wound in the head. The three bodies were found in their home at 1759 Doone Rd.

Sarah Geller, 35, went home Sunday evening to discover her children and husband dead, all victims of what Upper Arlington police say was a double murder-suicide. Police responded to her desperate 911 call about 7:30 p.m.

Frantically screaming, she told a dispatcher, "Oh my God, my beautiful babies! He killed my babies!" Neighbors on Doone, four streets south of Lane Avenue, described the Gellers as a caring family. They said that Mr. Geller was a doting, stay-at-home dad; Mrs. Geller was a happy, personable working mother; and the boys were bright and well-adjusted.The Gellers married on Valentine's Day in 1998. Six days later, they both became licensed pharmacists, according to public records. Mrs. Geller is a supervisor at MEDCO, a mail-order pharmaceutical company.

Mr. Geller chose to stay home with the boys, said a neighbor who wouldn't give her name.

The boys were fixtures in their quiet residential Upper Arlington neighborhood. Neighbors said the boys typically played with other children who lived on the street and frequently rode bikes with their dad. One recalled the boys' enthusiasm as they went trick-or-treating last Halloween.

The note left by their father on Sunday showed problems that others didn't know about.

"This cycle of misery ends with me," Mr. Geller wrote.

But for those touched by the deaths, grief continues.

After receiving medical attention on Sunday, Mrs. Geller was staying with relatives, police said.

Neighbors are mourning the incomprehensible and tragic loss. Counselors were on hand yesterday at Barrington Elementary School, where Solomon had been a second-grader and Samson had attended afternoon kindergarten.

"Some (parents) are seeking guidance about how to explain what happened to their children," said Upper Arlington School District spokesman Dan Donovan.

Counseling services will be available for students, teachers and parents as long as necessary, he said.

There had been no previous reports of violence in the Geller home, said Heather Galli, spokeswoman for Upper Arlington police.

Those experiencing suicidal thoughts can contact a 24-hour suicide-prevention hot line at 614-221-5445.

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Wednesday, September 29, 2010 10:57 PM
BY DEAN NARCISO

The Columbus Dispatch

Friends and family members have requested that mourners bring Legos to celebrate the lives of two small boys who were killed by their father in Upper Arlington this week.

A memorial service for Solomon and Samson Geller will be held Sunday at Trinity United Methodist Church in Marble Cliff.

The boys, 8 and 6 years old, were shot to death by their father, Troy Geller, who then killed himself, authorities have said.

A friend of the boys' mother had told the church "how much the boys loved to play with Legos," said the Rev. Philip Brooks, senior minister at Trinity.

Friends of the boys are being asked to bring Legos and Lego structures to either the church or Barrington Elementary School in Upper Arlington, where the boys were students.

"If they can be assembled, that would be great," said a church employee.

The Lego structures will be displayed during a visitation on Saturday, as well as the service on Sunday, then donated to charity.

Visitation will be 3-7 p.m. Saturday at Schoedinger Northwest Chapel, 1740 Zollinger Rd., Upper Arlington. The memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at Trinity United Methodist Church, 1581 Cambridge Blvd.

The Lego donations can be dropped off from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thursday or Friday at the church, or during school hours at Barrington.

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"questioned allegiances"? WOW. There was a lot going on behind these closed doors. How completely sad.

I do not think this was about lack of finances like so many other parents who do themselves in because they cannot make ends meet. Mr. Geller's suicide note is very telling. Those 2 children had to witness this.

I want to thank "Praying for Faith" in bringing these articles to my attention. She told me about this in a PM and I asked her if she had any links. She sent me plenty. I cannot believe this has not made it's way to HLN/JVM/NG. Horrific!

This report repeats alot of what was already posted, but it also mentions some other details I've underlined below.

COLUMBUS, Ohio A pharmacist apparently shot and killed his two young sons and himself in their suburban Columbus home while his wife was away for the weekend, authorities said.

Sarah Geller, also a pharmacist, called 911 Sunday after she found the bodies of her husband, Troy Geller, 35, and their two sons, Solomon, 8, and Samson, 6, in their home in Upper Arlington, police spokeswoman Heather Galli said.

Galli said the deaths were an apparent murder-suicide.

Autopsies showed that Troy Geller died from a gunshot wound to the head, said Franklin County Coroner Dr. Jan Gorniak. The two boys died from multiple gunshots to the head and chest.

Galli would not say what police believe was the motive. There were no reports of domestic violence at the home, however.

The Geller boys had just started school at Barrington Elementary School. Solomon was in the second grade and Samson was in kindergarten.

Teachers continued with classes Monday in the rooms where the boys sat last week. Grief counselors made themselves available for faculty members and students.

"Any kind of death and particularly a tragic, unexpected death is a severe loss to our community," said Dan Donovan, a school spokesman. "It's extremely difficult for us to take."

The Gellers married on Valentine's Day in February 1998, the same month they were licensed as pharmacists, according to public records.

Sarah Geller has worked for Medco Health Solutions Inc. near Columbus since 2001, company spokeswoman Ann Smith said. Troy Geller worked as a pharmacist for the same company until April 2005, but it wasn't clear when he started.

Police wouldn't say where Sarah Geller had been over the weekend. She's now staying with relatives.
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Man the very direct wording of that suicide note speaks volumes to me. And suicide notes usually don't make it into the media as quickly as this one seems to have.

Troy wasn't saving his children from anything... he was seeking to hurt his wife in the harshest form possible, leaving her as the sole survivor to deal with what he had done. Why did he have to shoot his sons multiple times? Well I'll tell you this it wasn't because he was trying to help them. NO! it was a vicious and malicious attack on those Sarah loved.

Neighbors never reported hearing gunshots?


Also IMO a coroner doesn't just base an opinion of suicide on the fact that a note is left behind. Did he also check Troys hands for gunshot residue? Can Sarah prove she wasn't in the home at the time?

Such a tragic story! It does sound like the father was depressed with his life - maybe he didn't enjoy being a "stay at home" dad. And, I agree with Nite that it does seem like he was trying to hurt his wife by this - it must have been a shock to her! However, that was an interesting point about proving that his wife did not commit the crimes. It sounds like she was away for the weekend, but I guess there is still the possibility that she could have done it when she returned. I'm sure that LE will be investigating it.

This is so sad! OMG, these boys are both a year younger then my boys ages My boys love their legos too.

I am sure the Mother is in completely shell shock right now. I can not imagine what she is going through

I never understand why certain types of depression cause someone to think they are saving others by taking them along with him. I don't think he hated his wife and did it to hurt her. Inner demons made him do it, inner demons that were eating him up inside.
In Matthews, NC, a few yrs ago, a woman went to the gro store for a bit, came home and her twin 5 yr old children were dead. The dad had been having mental issues, he really thought he was saving his children from a sad life like his. They had plenty of money, yet the dad fell into a big black hole and took his children along. This couple is still married, the mother lives in the same home, says it gives her good memories...they were on Oprah. It was a sad case. I feel so sorry for the boys mother. I cannot even imagine what shape she is in right now.

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'I can kill myself, or I can live'

(There are pictures on the above website if anyone is interested.)

When her husband fatally shot their two sons and himself, Sarah Adkins chose to fill the unfathomable void with a foundation designed to help others cope with violence and grief.
Sunday, January 16, 2011 02:58 AM
By Rita Price
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

People ask because they care.

Sarah Adkins understands this, and she hopes that the well-intentioned will, in turn, try to understand her raw, honest answers.

How are you doing?

I'm not good. But thanks for asking.

Is there anything I can do?

Yes. You can touch me.

Adkins needs to feel kindness. It makes sense, her therapist says, that ever since her children were killed, Adkins would crave the embrace of people who are good.

Sometimes love works better than anti-anxiety pills.

"If you touch me, help me, and hold my hand, I don't have to take them," she said of the pills. "But it's hard, because I make people cry. They see me and cry."

Adkins had two beautiful boys, ages 8 and 6, with shiny blond hair and boundless energy. Solomon, the oldest, was athletic, a dodge-ball legend among his second-grade classmates at Barrington Elementary School.

"He did the monkey bars like it was his job," Adkins said.

Samson was an "old soul," a kindergartner who loved animals and long pants - never shorts, no matter how hot the day.

"He always wore jeans," she said. "He thought he looked good in them."

When she came home after a weekend antiquing trip on Sept. 26 and saw her children lying so still, saw what looked liked blood in their hair, Adkins thought for a moment that it was a joke.

Seconds later, she was screaming the truth to a 911 dispatcher. The boys' father - her husband, Troy Geller, 35 - had killed them and himself in their Upper Arlington home.

Geller shot Solomon and Samson more than once in the head and chest. Then he shot himself in the head.

Adkins closed her eyes to the horror and pictured God holding her sons.

Later that night, in a hotel room where she lay in her parents' arms, Adkins, 35, knew that the only power she had left over her shattered life rested in a single choice. She told her mom and dad: "I can kill myself, or I can live."

Dying would mean one more life taken by a man who had refused help and counseling and whose twisted mind apparently found a way to justify murder instead of ending his marriage with a divorce, Adkins said.

She thought about what Solly and Sammy would want her to do.

She pictured Geller, too, and said, "You're not going to win."

Photographs flash on the website: Solly and Sammy making the peace sign, Solly and Sammy in the bathtub with soaped-up hair, Solly and Sammy building sand castles.

The brothers are the face of a charity now.

In November, Adkins and her close friends started Solly and Sammy's Foundation for Peace with the dream of building an organization to give money to programs that help women and children, educate against violence and provide grief counseling. An inaugural gala is planned for July 8 at the Ohio State University Union.

Adkins' friend Cristina Worrel - their sons used to play together - said the foundation seems the best way to wrest something good from the tragedy.

Adkins is cheerful and optimistic by nature. So were her boys.

"She's not an angry person," Worrel said.

Franklin County Coroner Jan Gorniak serves on the foundation's board. She said it's the first time she has taken on such a role in the aftermath of a case.

At least 14 children and teens younger than 18 died by homicide in Franklin County last year, the highest total in recent memory, child-welfare advocates say.

The coroner fought tears when she spoke of the loss that Adkins and others endure.

"I'm a mom, too," Gorniak said. "I don't know how you get up every day, or where that strength comes from. There aren't many people in the entire world who have an inkling of what she's going through."

Adkins said her therapist also warns against a search for reasons.

"If anyone should have known, it was me," she said. "I lived with him. And I had no idea.

"No one on this planet had any idea that something like this could happen."

Geller never had been violent, Adkins said. They both were pharmacists, and she recently had completed a doctorate, a move that they agreed would improve her career.

Geller had preferred to be a stay-at-home dad, she said.

But he wasn't content. A neighbor described him as "out of step" and not very friendly. While Adkins thrived, Geller withdrew. He didn't seem to want close friendships, or time with relatives, and he thought the family should move to Colorado "so it would just be the four of us," Adkins said.

"He would never open up. I'd say, 'Talk to me. Talk to someone. I can't be happy for two people.'"

Despite the tension, the boys loved their dad.

"It took me a long time to even contemplate divorce," Adkins said. "No one was cheating on anyone. I didn't have an affair. He didn't abuse me."

Gorniak said most families never find answers. Still, they need help and support so that grief doesn't destroy them, too.

She said she is trying to secure funding that would allow her to make good on a campaign promise to link families with bereavement or other counseling services when they lose loved ones to crime or other sudden or unusual circumstances. "We had applied for a grant and didn't get it," she said.

Gorniak said she's pleased to be a part of Solly and Sammy's foundation, which could help others and honor the memory of the boys at the same time.

The coroner will never forget. She keeps one of their little Lego cars on her desk.

Adkins carries five different house keys.

She has not returned to the yellow house on Doone Road, which is for sale, and she might never. The other keys open doors to the homes of friends and relatives who stand ready to harbor and love her.

"You see this horrible tragedy of what someone did to his beautiful children," Adkins said, sobbing hard. "What people don't see is the goodness, the blessings. I have 10,000 angels with me."

She and Worrel manage to laugh through their tears when they talk about the day the "angels" got mad.

Not long after the shootings, Worrel and others went to the house to remove furniture for storage, sale or disposal. One piece - it might have been a bookcase - that they had carried outside wouldn't come apart, so Worrel hit it with a hammer.

"I was pissed," she said. "I hit it again. And again. And I just went to town."

A man who lives nearby offered his sledgehammer and quick instructions on how to use it. Emotions took over, and soon the crowd was smashing everything. Those without tools, Worrel said, threw shoes.

It was spontaneous therapy - an anger-letting, they realized - over a senseless crime that everyone had been powerless to prevent.

"People just joined in," Worrel said. "We brought all the furniture out. And we smashed it all."

Adkins took back her maiden name and burned her wedding dress. She has returned to her job and a sea of support from her colleagues at Medco but often works from her parents' home in Athens in southeastern Ohio, where she grew up.

"It's a nice, quiet place to be," she said.

Adkins said she believes in a loving God and the words from 2 Corinthians, which speak of being defeated but not destroyed. She had the passage and the names of her sons etched on a gold necklace.

"I chose to live, right?" she said, searching Worrel's face for affirmation.

"You're doing great," her friend said.

Adkins tries to fill her mind with things she doesn't regret: hiding candy surprises for the boys at the bottom of the popcorn bowl, letting Sammy eat nothing but Popsicles one day, taking the hamsters along on their beach vacation.

"It's hard for me to be around children," she said. "Hard because I want to squeeze them so tight."

Adkins said her sister has dreamed of the boys, so vividly that she could feel their skin and count their freckles. Others have, too.

"I keep waiting for them to come to me," Adkins said. "I keep hoping."

She wants to tell her sons that she hasn't given up - on life, on love, on the good that should be done in their names.

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Sarah Adkins smiles at her friend Cristina Worrel as they discuss the charity that the two began in memory of Adkins' sons.

Eight-year-old Solomon Geller, left, was quite the little athlete, Adkins said. She called Samson Geller, 6, an "old soul" who loved wearing jeans. Their energy was boundless.

That poor woman. Those poor little innocent darling little boys. What a horribly selfish thing their Dad did to them.
RIP Solomon and Samson

raine,

Thanks again.

I feel for her. It would be so hard to get through something like that. So sad she had to come home and find her boys dead. I am also glad she had a strong support system.

Those little boys are just adorable.

Their little pictures haunt me for some reason. I think that is the ultimate for a parent..to know that your spouse took your children's lives and you are the one to find them.

She is a very, very strong woman!! And as you said, Raine, thank goodness she has such a strong support system!!

PFF, thanks for posting that update! I can't imagine what that poor woman must have gone through, and is still going through. I'm sure it must seem like a never-ending nightmare! It's so good to hear that she has chosen to live, and to try to encourage others who face similar "nightmares". I pray for continued peace & healing in her life.

The Geller family in happier times

You are very welcome Rainbow. It is so hard to try to understand why an educated person would/could do this to his two beautiful sons.