On January 19, 2006 David Crespi visited his therapist, something that had become a routine in his life. For 20 years, off and on, he had suffered from depression. The feelings would come and go but recently they were getting worse. Thoughts of hurting others and himself permeated his mind, making him think of things like running down strangers in his car and even worse, harming his family or himself.

But in the therapist’s office he spoke of none of these things. Depression was one thing, but to tell a doctor you had thoughts of killing your children, that could get your family taken away. What would his wife say if she found out the father of her children had thoughts of killing them? No one could know of the dark thoughts running through his mind as he drove home to his wife and family that afternoon.

The next day David, his wife and their 5-year-old twin daughters, Samantha and Tessara were home. He was home on medical leave due to his depression. The twins had a cold and had stayed home from day care.

David answered a call from his mother at 11:30a.m. She was calling to see how he was doing. David Crespi had suffered from depression for years and these calls were probably commonplace, as his concerned mother kept regular contact with him, to offer any assistance she could. He talked with her for about 15 minutes, telling everything was fine.

His wife, Kim decided to leave the girls with their father, while she ran our to get a haircut. She left around 12:15 for a quick trip, feeling her children were safe with their father.

The children came down where their father was working and wanted to play a game of hide and seek.

But as the girls found their hiding places, their father David Crespi was arranging knives on the kitchen counter.

He brought Samantha into the kitchen and began to stab her repeatedly, eventually striking her 18 times. Her sister, Tessara found him and ran upstairs to hide. But the game of hide and seek was over and he found her, hiding in the walk-in closet in the master bedroom’s bathroom. He pulled her from the closet, held her down and stabbed her 14 times. Both girls begged him to stop as he drove the knife in again and again.

After the double-murder he thought what to do next. He debated killing himself as well, or possibly taking off in his car. Maybe commit suicide later.

But instead he washed his hands and changed out of his bloody clothes.

He then made a call to 911. During it he admitted to killing his two daughters and was thinking of killing himself. Remaining calm despite the horrific news, the operator dispatched Charlotte-Mecklenburg police to the address and they arrived shortly to find Crespi sitting outside his $500,000 home in the up-scale Ballantyne neighborhood.

He was arrested and they began a search of the house, finding the bodies of Samantha and Tessara. Later investigators would say this was one of the worst crime scenes they had witnessed during their time on the police force.

Once Crespi was arrested he was taken into custody and questioned about what happened and why he killed his two young children.

Crespi’s Interview

Crespi told them he had suffered bouts of depression over the years that had triggered thoughts of killing his children, wife and parents.

When the twins were 3 or 4, he began carrying a butcher knife in the his back pocket when he was with them.

“I thought of hurting them then,” he recalled. “I came to my senses and I didn’t do it. I think I convinced myself then that I could make things work financially.”

The weeks before the killings were marked by another bout of depression. He was having problems sleeping and concentrating at work. This stress led him to wonder if he would lose his job and not be able to financially support the family.

That’s when he started to think again about killing his family again. He considered stabbing his wife, Kim, while she slept in their bedroom. Or possibly killing his other children.

“I thought I could control it, you know, and I thought it wasn’t real,” he told the detectives. “I thought I’d never actually do it.”

On January 20, 2006, the feelings became too much.

“I was home. I was typing. And then I said, `If I do this, then I won’t have to take care of everybody anymore.’

“If you do what?” the detective asked.

“I kill Tess and Sam. And the thoughts kept going.”

The detective asked if he was tired of taking care of them.

“I was tired of not feeling well.”

Asked why he’d stabbed Samantha more than once, Crespi replied: “I wanted it to be over. I wanted it to be over for both of them.”

Even so, Crespi knew what he’d done was wrong. “It’s a bad thing to do,” he told the detectives. “It’s very bad.”

A detective asked Crespi if he thought he could have stopped himself from killing his twins.

Crespi: “Probably — no. Had to happen today.”

Detective: “It had to happen today?”

Crespi: “Had to happen today because the thoughts weren’t — the thoughts weren’t stopping … I didn’t want to go to the doctor this afternoon.”

Detective: “Why could you not kill just one?”

Crespi: “Because they’re twins. They go together.”

David Crespi had never told his wife about the murderous thoughts running through his mind. She had no idea that in her home there lived a man with thoughts of killing her and their children.

“Never talked to anybody about them — not even the therapist I saw yesterday,” Crespi said.

Detectives asked if he liked being married and having children.

Crespi: “I did. I didn’t see a way to pay for it … I didn’t see a way to take care of everything.”

Detective: “So what was the best remedy for your not having to be responsible for upkeep of your family and their needs and their wants? What was your remedy for that?”

Crespi: “I guess to do some — to do something that would be awful like this.”

Asked if killing the twins would resolve that problem and make things easier, Crespi replied: “Maybe it will — in a way.”

Detective: “You don’t have to worry about it no more?”

Crespi: “I don’t have to be as focused about it. You know, I don’t have to obsess about it.”

Detective: “We all handle our stresses and problems differently, but surely that’s no reason to kill our children, is it?”

Crespi: “No … It’s not right … It’s not a reason to kill.”

Crespi admitted that he had not thought enough about the ramifications of his actions. He did realize that this would lead to him going to prison.

“Right now I fear what’s going to happen to me because I know it’s going to be ugly.”
But the urges to hurt people, he told detectives, were over. “I can’t hurt anybody else.”

He then was reminded that in just three days he was to return to work, a place he would most likely never see again. He was asked about this by the detectives.

Detective: “How does that make you feel? Is that a relief for you?”

Crespi: “In one way … I just have another problem now, other problems, you know.”

Detective: “What do you consider those other problems now?”

Crespi: “Being here, where I’m headed.”

Detective: “Do you think this problem was bigger than the problem you had before?”

Crespi: “Now, yeah. Yeah, it’s bigger. It’s bigger for a lot of people.”

The detectives asked Crespi what was going through his mind before the deadly attacks.

“I was going back and forth. `Don’t do this. Don’t do this.’ And then I was going back, `You have to do it.’ ”

Detective: “Why? Why do you have to do it?”

Crespi: “Because then I’ll be bad, and I’m already feeling bad … If you’re bad, you do stuff like this.”

Detective: “But you’re not a bad person.”

Crespi: “I guess I am now.”

David Crespi, who confessed to killing his 5-year-old twins in January, has agreed to plead guilty to murder and spend the rest of his life in prison, the Observer has learned.

The 45-year-old bank executive is expected to plead guilty, perhaps later this month, to two counts of first-degree murder in the stabbing deaths of daughters Samantha and Tessara.

Crespi, who told police he was struggling with depression when he killed the twins, would then avoid a capital murder trial and possible death sentence. He’d be sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Mecklenburg District Attorney Peter Gilchrist refused to talk about any deal with Crespi. “It’s improper for me to discuss any possibility of how this case will be resolved,” he said.

But Crespi’s attorneys say prosecutors have told them they will not seek the death penalty if the father of five pleads guilty.

 

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Story of David Crespi: Father stabs twin daughters to death because HE wanted to die?

By Greg Lacour and Fred Kelly - PredatorHunters.blogspot.com

April 20, 2006

David Lauren Crespi, a Mecklenburg County man accused of stabbing his twin 5-year-old daughters to death Friday, has suffered from depression for years and recently told his parents he didn't like a new medication he was taking, Crespi's father told the Observer on Saturday.

The depression, which began about four years ago, was one of a handful of medical problems the Wachovia Bank senior vice president suffered from, said his father, Lauren Crespi of Angels Camp, Calif.

David Crespi was taking antidepressants, and he recently had trouble getting to sleep, Lauren Crespi said; the new medication was to help cure his insomnia. His son last year conquered an even bigger threat: Doctors diagnosed testicular cancer, which is now in remission, Lauren Crespi said. David Crespi had planned to visit a doctor for a checkup Friday.

Regardless, David Crespi's father -- along with friends, former co-workers and neighbors in the affluent Deerfield Creek neighborhood in southeast Mecklenburg County -- said Saturday he can't imagine why his son would have done what he's accused of doing.

Lauren Crespi said he visited his son in North Carolina for Thanksgiving. The family enjoyed a visit to Old Salem in Winston-Salem, and "there were no signs of trouble."

"I just don't understand why he turned on the children," Lauren Crespi said. "I just don't know what snapped."

David Crespi, 45, remained in the Mecklenburg County jail Saturday, charged with two counts of murder. He's scheduled to make his first appearance in District Court on Monday.

Police arrived at David Crespi's home on Creek Pointe Drive on Friday afternoon, after a dispatcher told them a man had called 911 and said he'd stabbed his twin daughters to death and was about to kill himself.

Officers found David Crespi outside and arrested him. Inside, they found Samantha and Tessara Crespi. Both were pronounced dead at the home.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police declined Saturday to disclose details about the possible motive or weapon used; Sgt. Lee Ann Oehler said she could not comment on what led to the killings. Police wouldn't release the 911 recording, saying it's part of the investigation.

David Crespi's wife, Kimberli, was out getting a haircut when the twins were killed. The three other siblings -- Jessica, 17, Dylan, 14, and Joshua, 9 -- were at school, authorities said.

The twins were born in Sacramento, Calif., David Crespi's longtime home, on Oct. 16, 2000. Tessara loved the color purple and dancing, while Samantha loved lambs, pink poodles and the color blue, according to their obituary; both enjoyed dressing as princesses.

A funeral is set for Tuesday at St. Matthew Catholic Church in the Ballantyne area, with other services and burial later in Sacramento.

Neighbors of the Crespis described them as a kind of anchor for their neighborhood, though they'd lived there only about five years. Most of their neighbors had lived there for an even shorter time, and the Crespi children commonly played outside with other children.

"The majority of us don't have family nearby," said a friend and neighbor who didn't want her name used. "So we become each other's family."

On Saturday, a few homes down the street from the Crespis', a group of eight women planned to make dozens of pink ribbons in honor of Samantha and Tessara and distribute them throughout the neighborhood.

The family was active at St. Matthew, where David Crespi served on the church's finance committee, said Monsignor John McSweeney, the pastor. McSweeney said he spent Friday with Kimberli Crespi and the remaining children, and that the shocked congregation would remember Samantha and Tessara during services today.

The shock extended across the country, as friends and former neighbors in the Sacramento area learned the news.

Michael Crowley, who said he's known David Crespi for at least a decade, said his friend's recent Christmas card and letter led him to believe everything was going well.

"If you had to interview the model family, they would be who I would think of," Crowley said. "I can't tell you how inconceivable this is."

David Crespi comes from a family of high achievers. He, his brother and father all hold degrees from California State University, Sacramento, where David Crespi graduated in 1983 with an accounting degree. His brother, John, is an agricultural economics professor at Kansas State University.

David Crespi was a straight-A student in college, his father said, and passed the certified public accountant's exam as a senior in college.

He rose to vice president and chief financial officer at Sacramento Savings Bank before it closed in 1994. He later worked as an administrator at the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency and as an executive at The Money Store, a Sacramento-based home equity lender, before moving to Charlotte to work for Wachovia, where he was in the bank's audit division.

Richard Slaymaker of Gold River, Calif., worked with David Crespi for about three years in the early 1990s, when the two were finance managers for the housing agency. Slaymaker said his former colleague isn't just a skilled professional but a respected and well-liked man.

"He was dedicated but had the ability to make everyone like him," he said. "He was such an outstanding person; I knew we wouldn't be able to keep him."

"No matter what kind of problems would come up, he could deal with them. What happened yesterday is so out of the norm, it doesn't make sense." -- Staff writers Franco Ordoñez, Ken garfield and melissa manware contributed.

UPDATE!!

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Samantha and Tessara Crespi, the 5-year-old twins police say were killed by their father, were both stabbed more than a dozen times, according to recently released autopsy results.

David Crespi, 45, was arrested in January at his southeastern Mecklenburg County home and charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

David Crespi is accused of killing his twin daughters, Samantha and Tessara.

The autopsy reports that both girls had cuts on their hands, but detectives have not said whether they were defensive wounds or if the twins were held down when they were stabbed.

Crespi is being held at Raleigh’s Central Prison on suicide watch. Police say he had a history of depression and had attempted suicide on several occasions.

No trial date has been set. Prosecutors have not said whether they will seek the death penalty.

Okay... a couple of things here. First of all: "suffered from depression for years and recently told his parents he didn't like a new medication he was taking, Crespi's father told the Observer", this sounds like a prelude to a defense to me. Let's blame it on the medication!

Also: "No matter what kind of problems would come up, he could deal with them. What happened yesterday is so out of the norm"... Out of the norm? You think? Maybe this will be a supporting witness to the "blame the medication" defense?

 

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A commenter asked about the information posted about the reports that David Crespi was on a drug meant to help him sleep better.

UPDATE 03/11/06:

Family members have told the [Charlotte] Observer that Crespi had been taking antidepressants and sleeping medications. The doctor’s notes do not mention sleep aids.

I found the following information and did some additional research:

It has been reported that Crespi had suffered from depression for 4 years and had recently been having problems with insomnia. According to his father, Crespi had been on antidepressant medication and complained that he did not like the new preseciption meant to combat the problems with sleep.

It has since been reported that he went from Paxil to Prozac.

Below is some information regarding both drugs. As you can see from the highlighted words, Paxil can cause problems with sleep.

Paxil

Paxil relieves a variety of emotional problems. It can be prescribed for serious, continuing depression that interferes with your ability to function. Symptoms of this type of depression often include changes in appetite and sleep patterns, a persistent low mood, loss of interest in people and activities, decreased sex drive, feelings of guilt or worthlessness, suicidal thoughts, difficulty concentrating, and slowed thinking.

Side effects:
Abnormal ejaculation, abnormal orgasm, constipation, decreased appetite, decreased sex drive, diarrhea, dizziness, drowsiness, dry mouth, gas, impotence, male and female genital disorders, nausea, nervousness, sleeplessness, sweating, tremor, weakness, vertigo

Paxil should be used cautiously by people with a history of manic disorders and those with high pressure in the eyes (glaucoma).

Prozac

Prozac is prescribed for the treatment of depression–that is, a continuing depression that interferes with daily functioning. The symptoms of major depression often include changes in appetite, sleep habits, and mind/body coordination; decreased sex drive; increased fatigue; feelings of guilt or worthlessness; difficulty concentrating; slowed thinking; and suicidal thoughts.

It may be 4 weeks before you feel any relief from your depression, but the drug’s effects should last about 9 months after a 3-month treatment regimen. For obsessive-compulsive disorder, the full effect may take 5 weeks to appear.

Side effects:
Abnormal dreams, abnormal ejaculation, abnormal vision, anxiety, diarrhea, diminished sex drive, dizziness, dry mouth, flu-like symptoms, flushing, gas, headache, impotence, insomnia, itching, loss of appetite, nausea, nervousness, rash, sex-drive changes, sinusitis, sleepiness, sore throat, sweating, tremors, upset stomach, vomiting, weakness, yawning

If you are sensitive to or have ever had an allergic reaction to Prozac or similar drugs such as Paxil and Zoloft, you should not take Prozac. Make sure that your doctor is aware of any drug reactions that you have experienced.

As you can see from the articles, Paxil can cause problems with sleeplessness. It may be that he was switched to Prozac to alleviate this problem and give him a medication that he could stop taking during his better periods.

 

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David Crespi, a Charlotte man who stabbed his 5-year-old twin daughters has suffered from depression for 20 years.

At the time of his arrest for the crime he was transferred to Raleigh’s Central Prison and placed on suicide watch. Today the doctor’s note, taken during his evaluation were released. It shows that his depression medication was changed 4 days before the killings. He went from Paxil to Prozac, a drug the doctor characterized in his notes as being “not a good drug” for Crespi.

“Prozac was continued so depression would not deepen (crash). It obviously is not a good drug for the patient. [He] ultimately needs safe keeping and a mood stabilizer.”

He also noted that Crespi apparently was not constantly on medication but seemed to come off then during periods when he felt better.

“[Crespi] was treated at psychotherapy, usually Paxil, usually 3-6 months and then stopped because he got better. (manic episodes?),” the doctor’s notes stated.

Crespi also appeared confused during the interview. He was having a hard time sleeping and concentrating.

After Crespi was put on Prozac the doctor stated Crespi said, “It makes me feel spacey.”

“Slow thinking, showing mild confusion,” the doctor notes.

The notes also revealed that at the time that he allegedly killed his daughters, Crespi “lost track of their joy.”

So it would appear the Crespi, during the doctor’s evaluation, was concerned that he suffered from manic depression, a condition that results in the sufferer going through stages ranging from extreme happiness (manic) to extreme depression. During these depressed times, Crespi would be given medication and when the manic or happy periods came back, he would stop taking them.

This will also likely be key to his defense. His lawyers will claim the medication caused the wild mood swing that led him to kill his two daughters. They will also try to show that he was simply on the wrong medication and that this was not noticed in time to prevent the killings.

The case itself is open and shut. Crespi killed his two children, then went outside and waited for police to respond to the 911 call he made. He has never denied murdering the two girls, but instead points to his depression as the reason.

The only real question is whether he will ever see a courtroom, since he may be found incompetent to stand trial and since I am sure his wife and other children don’t wanto to have to relive the events in court, the DA may very well plea bargain this down to gain a conviction without a trial.

No mater what becomes of David Crespi, there are two beautiful little girls that are dead. And they will be mourned and remembered.

 

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A banking executive accused of stabbing his five-year-old twin daughters to death has been indicted on first-degree murder charges in their deaths.

The indictment against David Crespi was handed up Monday by a Mecklenburg County grand jury. It doesn’t say whether prosecutors will seek the death penalty in the January 20th slayings of Samantha and Tessarra Crespi.

Now we have to wait again for the trial dates to be released.

 

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The mother of Samantha and Tessara Crespi, the 5-year-old twins that were apparently stabbed by their father was in California for their funeral today. In part of her eulogy she spoke of fears that her husband David may have not stopped with just those two deaths.

“I believe that if David had not called 911 for help at the moment he did that Jessica, Dylan, Joshua and myself may not have been here today for you.”

And of her daughters, Kim Crespi said:

“We will never forget their humor, their love of life, and their love for all of us and especially their love for each other.”

Kim Crespi, the mother of Samantha and Tessara, was interviewed by the Charlotte Observer from California where she is attending her daughters’ funerals.

In the interview she stated that she was not aware of a reason why her husband, David Crespi killed the girls. She did however mention a single comment he made.

“He (once) said, when he got depressed, he said, ‘I am sad that this world is so dark sometimes, and they would be a part of it.’ And I said, ‘You wouldn’t ever do anything, would you? And he said, ‘No, no,’” Kim Crespi said.

Crespi did not mention the medications her husband was taking to relieve the depression he suffered from for 10 years. He had also taken a leave from work for a few months last year.

She hasn’t seen her husband since he was arrested.

“We care for Dave, we love him, but it’s out of our hands,” she said. “There will be a time with Dave for all of us.”

Kim Crespi gave some details about the day Samantha and Tessara were found dead in the house.

On the day the twins were killed, Kim Crespi said her husband, who was off from work, agreed to watch Samantha and Tessara while she went to a hair appointment. The three older children - two of them David Crespi’s children from an earlier marriage - were at school.

When she left shortly after noon last Friday, the twins were eating mashed potatoes and gravy. When she returned at 1:20 p.m., police were at the home.

Her first thought was that her husband had killed himself. But based on what police told her after interviewing her husband, Kim Crespi said she believes he was prepared to kill the whole family.

“He said his darkness was for all of us,” she said.

Today, while family members mourned the loss of Samantha and Tessar Crespi, their father was moved from a Mecklenburg County Jail to a prison mental health facility in Raleigh, NC.

Mental health workers who evaluated Crespi recommended the move, which was signed by Judge Phil Howerton Jr.

The order “made a statement that Mr. Crespi is suicidal and is under a Level Two suicide precaution,” said Julia Rush, a spokeswoman for the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office.

She added that such a precaution is used for inmates who have not made an attempt on their life but who officials believe should be observed.

Crespi will now be housed in a room with a window where he will be observed constantly by either medical or jail employees via cameras. He will also be given clothing that is tear resistant, to prevent it being used to hurt himself.

This decision seems to play directly into the potential plan to offer a plea of insanity, or at least that his mental capacity was weakened at the time he killed his two young daughters.

This also eliminates almost any chance their being a possibility of hearing from David Crespi to find out his side of things and what happened in the house that fateful day.

 

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Father charged in 5-year-old twins' murders

By Glenn Counts / 6NEWS

Saturday, January 21, 2006

David Crespi has been charged with two counts of first degree murder in the stabbing deaths of his 5-year-old twin daughters.

Crespi, 45, was booked into Charlotte Mecklenburg County Jail Friday night.

The twins were stabbed to death at the Crespi home on Creek Point Drive in south Mecklenburg County, where police found their bodies shortly after 1 p.m. Sources said David Crespi summoned police and confessed to the killings during the 911 call. Police would not confirm that.

“Our investigators will go over that tape,” said Keith Bridges, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police spokesperson.

Police said they had never been called to the Crespi home before Friday, and a motive for the killings has not been disclosed.

"We're not anywhere we can talk about a motive in this or any reasons someone would want to take the lives of two little girls," CMPD's Bridges said.

Investigators will be at the home all night gathering evidence. Emotionally, this is one of the most difficult cases police ever handled.

“I can’t describe to you how horrific and how sad this is,” Bridges said. “It’s horrible.”

Bridges said officers initially hoped that one girl would survive.

“One of the children is inside the house and one of the children is outside because when officers first got here, they thought that one them might still be alive,” Bridges said. “They brought her out to try and get her to Medic as quickly as possible, but that wasn’t the case.  She had already died."

When police arrived at the home, Crespi was outside and surrendered without resistance. 

“As is typical in any situation, the police officer would give the suspect commands to do certain things. That should be no indication that he was not cooperative. Everything that I’ve heard is that he was cooperative and easily handcuffed,” Bridges said.

Police notified David Crespi's wife, Kim, of the murders. Officers blocked the street to prevent her from arriving at the scene unaware of what had happened. The Crespi's three other children were not home at the time of the murders.

“Chaplains are with the family right now at headquarters so we will be providing whatever assistance they might need,” Bridges said.

“I just honestly and truly believe that this was some kind of terrible thing that just went wrong,” one neighbor said.

Sources tell 6NEWS thad David Crespi is a senior vice president and managing director of internal audit at Wachovia. The Crespis originally are from Sacramento, Calif., where both David and Kim Crespi graduated from California State Univeristy, Sacramento, also known as Sacramento State. They attend St. Matthew Catholic Church in Charlotte, where David Crespi had served on the parish finance council.