Three men are dead in what is believed to be a double-murder suicide in the West Town neighborhood. CBS

http://www.wbbm780.com/3-Men-Killed-In-Double-Murder-Suicide/6953775

Posted: Monday, 03 May 2010 3:08PM

Dad Kills 2 Sons, Self In Murder-Suicide

CHICAGO (CBS)  -- A father shot dead two of his sons Sunday because they were trying to evict him from a West Town home he'd lost in a bitter divorce battle, according to his ex-wife's attorney.

Arturo Bahena, 72, shot his sons Romeo, 44, and Rodolfo, 42, then killed himself in the yard of his former home on the 1700 block of West Erie shortly before noon Sunday, authorities say.

Carmen Quinones, who represented Arturo Bahena's ex-wife Natividad Bahena during a decade-long in divorce court battle, said the two sons had a possession of an order signed by a judge with them when they went to the house Sunday.

The ex-wife "was awarded the house more than a year ago, but Arturo refused to leave," Quinones said. "He was always a violent man. It's tragic that this is how it ends."

Natividad Bahena had sold the house to her sons in March, Quinones said.

"They wanted to reason with him," she said, "If they were going to physically drag him out, they'd have done it a year ago."

Police said Arturo Bahena and Romeo Bahena were found dead at the scene shortly before noon. Rodolfo Bahena died soon afterward at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Eyewitness Brendan Ringhouse said he was studying in his apartment opposite the murder scene when he heard "two pops" of gunfire.

"I walked to my window and saw an older man standing with a gun in his hand," he said. "One guy was on the ground leaning against the house, and another was on the ground in the yard.

"He was still alive and he was saying, 'No, no, no,' but the old man walked over to him, stood over him and shot two or three more times."

The gunman walked away from the scene, "then he paused, walked back to the yard and shot himself in the head," Ringhouse said.

Ringhouse — a medical student — dialed 911 and ran down to help, but police and paramedics arrived almost immediately, he said.

"The whole thing was surreal," he said.

Another witness said police pulled up as the oldest man shot himself.

"I saw him shooting down at one of the bodies, and then once the cop pulled up right here, he put the gun up to his own head," said Ryan Schultz.

Relatives declined to comment, but one woman wailed, "Oh God, no!," as she arrived at the scene, shouting that guns "shouldn't be allowed," as relatives tried to console her.

George Petzer, who was staying at a home opposite the murder scene, said he was walking his dog earlier Sunday morning when he saw two men sawing a lock on a gate to the yard where all three men were shot.

Quinones said she believed the two men were the victims, trying to get access to the home they now owned.

Autopsies on all three men are scheduled for Monday.

Further circumstances surrounding the shooting are not yet known, police said.

The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.

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