Dad stabbed, son shot in murder-suicide

MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) - Two people died in a rural Muskegon Township home Thursday afternoon in what police say was a father-son murder-suicide.

The altercation between 57-year-old Dave Laverty and his 30-year-old son Justin Laverty began outside their home in the 2100 block of Becker Road, Muskegon Township Police Chief Ken Sanford told 24 Hour News 8.

The two men argued and Justin stabbed his father in the upper body repeatedly with a 4- or 5-inch hunting knife, Chief Sanford said.

Dave Laverty managed to make his way into the kitchen, where he died. Justin Laverty then went to his upstairs bedroom and shot himself in the head with a shotgun, police said.

"Based on the initial statements that we got from the caller and looking at the scene, there's no indication that there's any outside parties involved," said Chief Sanford.

Dave and Justin Laverty had been arguing earlier in the day, Chief Sanford said, because the family intended to open up a second business on top of their cleaning company.

The wife and mother of the men had been with them earlier in the day as they prepared their pool for winter, Sanford said, but left before the altercation to get winterizing chemicals.

When she returned home after about 30 or 40 minutes, her husband and son were dead.

"An hysterical woman found her husband she believed deceased at the time. She left the house," said Chief Sanford at the scene.

She called 911. Emergency personnel arrived on the scene around 4 p.m. and found Dave and Justin Laverty's bodies.

Local police waited more than four hours for Michigan State Police crime scene technicians to arrive on scene. Autopsies are scheduled for Friday.

There was no history of calls to the home where the deaths occurred that would have indicated a problem, Chief Sanford said at the scene. He later told 24 Hour News 8 that there was a history of domestic violence at the family's Grand Haven home, where they lived before moving to Muskegon Township.

Neighbors said they didn't hear anything.

"That's very shocking," said neighbor John Fisher. "Extremely nice, hard-working people. They own their own business, they worked very  hard, seemed to be quite successful at what they were doing."

Neighbors told 24 Hour News 8 Dave Laverty and his wife had recently returned from a vacation in Hawaii.

"What a shock. What a shocker," said acquaintance John Lewis. "I guess it just goes to show it can happen anywhere."