A sad shalom

I have been in the news business since 1975, and this is the most painful story I’ve ever had to cover. It’s been a week to the day since the Butwin family was celebrating the 47th birthday of James Butwin.

Today, we got the piece of the news that none of us who knew the family really wanted to hear.

Dr. Gregory Hess, the chief medical examiner of Pima County, confirmed that all five members of the Tempe family were in the burning SUV found last Saturday morning in a desert area of Pinal County.

Hess also said that the pathologist, Dr. Veena Singh, had determined they had died of gunshot wounds and that James Butwin’s wound was self-inflicted.

There’s nothing more to say. May their memories be a blessing and may they rest in peace as we enter Shabbat. — Salvatore Caputo

Positive identification

The Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office today announced it has identified two of the bodies found in a burning SUV last Saturday. Dr. Gregory Hess said that the remains of James and Yafit Butwin were confirmed through dental identification.

He added that the medical examiner has so far been unable to confirm the identities of the other three bodies, but given the circumstances the medical examiner believes that they would be the Tempe couple’s three children, Malissa, Daniel and Matthew.

Although the bodies were found in Pinal County, the autopsies were being conducted in Pima County because of the level of expertise needed to make proper identifications.

Hess expected to have final identification of the other bodies tomorrow.