Man taken into custody at multiple murder scene released by police

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MULTIMEDIA

• Four people found dead in Scarborough home

A man who was taken into custody after a family of four was found dead in a Scarborough bungalow on Wednesday, Nov. 19, has been released by police.

No charges have been laid against the man who is believed to be the common-law husband of one of the victims.

Police said they were called to a home on Welwyn Avenue near Ellesmere and Scarborough Golf Club roads at 8:20 a.m.

The victims have been identified as Keith DeLong, his wife Wanda and their adult children Richard and Elizabeth.

Peter Lemonides, a neighbour, said Keith and Wanda were supposed to leave Wednesday for Mexico to visit Wanda's ailing mother. "They asked me to keep an eye on their son while they were away because the son is sick," he said, noting Richard has a serious bone disease.

Keith, Wanda and Richard lived in the Welwyn Avenue bungalow since 1974.

Lemonides, 42, said Elizabeth was there all day yesterday visiting her family. Elizabeth lived with her common-law husband in Whitby. He is believed to have discovered the bodies Wednesday morning.

Neighbours said Keith worked for IBM but retired a number of years ago. His wife was a homemaker.

"He and his wife loved camping. They used to go camping all the time," Lemonides said.

Lemonides said the DeLongs were a "great" family. "They were very friendly. They were always keeping an eye out on the neighbourhood," he said. "I used to play with Elizabeth when we were kids. We grew up together."

Seth Rogers, who lives next door to the DeLongs, said he usually hears the DeLong family dog, Charlotte, bark every morning but he didn't hear it Wednesday.

"At 8 a.m. the dog would bark. At 8:30 Keith would feed the birds in his backyard. He had eight or nine bird feeders. He'd then do his gardening and recycling."

Local resident John Mann, 59, said the DeLongs were quiet people.

"He (Keith) brought me some firewood two weeks ago. He was very friendly," Mann said. "This is a total shock."

Det. Sgt. Pauline Gray said at the scene Wednesday that police aren't looking for a suspect.

"I can tell you that the public is not to be alarmed. We believe this to be a case of familial violence," she said.

Police wouldn't disclose how the victims died.

"We observed a fair amount of violence," Gray said at the scene.