Content warning: This article describes child murder, suicide, and intimate partner violence. Please take care while reading.
Duluth, WI dad Anthony Nephew shot and killed his wife and 7-year-old son, his ex-wife and teenage son from a previous relationship, and then himself in a shocking quadruple murder-suicide discovered Nov. 7. Nephew was possibly motivated by ongoing mental health challenges and his anxiety over the 2024 presidential election.
Duluth police have now revealed they were at Nephew’s home he shared with his wife and 15-year-old son just a few months before Nephew committed those crimes. They also said Nephew, 46, obtained the gun permit in September, according to The Minnesota Star Tribune.
Nephew, who self-identified as a political independent, wrote openly on social media about his mental health and that he worried about the election. Three years before he killed his family and himself, he wrote an op-ed in the Duluth Star Tribune about poor mental health support in the United States.
In the column, Nephew wrote that without intervention, individuals facing mental health challenges “keep pushing forward, incurring one psychic injury after another” until, according to Nephew, they’re driven to homicide, suicide, or both.
Nephew attacked his wife and threatened to take his own life in July
Duluth police now say they visited Nephew’s home in July when his wife, Kathryn Nephew, reported that he had held a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her and take his own life. Nephew told the police at that time he feared Trump would win, he heard voices, and that he had to kill his family to protect them. Nephew told the police he had a schizophrenia diagnosis, had recently switched medications, and that he was struggling with symptoms before the incident.
Nephew also told the police in September that he believed Russians had taken over his mind when he was 6 and that he would shoot and kill himself and his family if Trump won. But two months after that call involving threats of violence, Nephew was able to get a gun permit the same day he applied for one, possibly because he had no previous criminal record.
In Feb. 2021, the same year he wrote the Duluth Star Tribune op-ed about mental health, Duluth police visited Nephew’s home on a mental health call, but at that time, he had no weapon and was not violent or suicidal.
The Duluth News Tribune says police checked on Nephew’s ex-wife, 47-year-old Erin Abramson, when she failed to show up for work on Nov. 7, which her coworkers said was unusual. Abramson also reportedly told her colleagues her ex-husband had recently “gone off the deep end.”
Police found Abramson and 15-year-old Jacob Nephew, Anthony and Erin’s son, dead from gunshot wounds inside Abramson’s home. Suspecting Anthony, police then checked Anthony’s home only a short distance away, where they also found Anthony, his wife, Kathryn, and their 7-year-old son, Oliver Nephew, dead from gunshot wounds.
An official motive for the crime may never be determined. However, police have gathered several electronic devices, including cell phones, that police say may provide a clearer picture of Nephew’s state of mind or reveal messages he may have sent to the victims before their deaths.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. A list of international crisis resources can be found here.
If you are experiencing domestic abuse, or if you believe someone you know is being abused, contact The National Domestic Violence Hotline. The hotline can be reached at 1-800-799-SAFE or spoken with online via the hotline’s website. Mobile phone owners can also text “START” to the number 88788