The Brief

The medical examiner’s office has determined a family of four found dead inside a San Francisco home last month was the result of a murder-suicide.

The mother apparently hanged herself. The father and two young daughters died from gunshot wounds.

The bodies were found by the girls’ uncle after he had tried contacting their father over the phone.

SAN FRANCISCO – Last month, KTVU reported the deaths of a family of four found dead in their San Francisco Westwood Highlands home were suspicious, and that sources said the case appeared to be a murder suicide. Records now show that was in fact the case.

What we know

On Monday, the San Francisco Medical Examiner’s Office issued a report for all four family members, detailing the violent manner in which they died.

Mackenzie Lou Ann Ocheltree, 9, died from a gunshot wound to the chest. Her 12-year-old sister, Alexandra Grace Ocheltree, also died after being shot in the back. Thomas Russell Ocheltree, their father, 57, died from multiple gunshot wounds, including to his neck and chest, according to the medical examiner’s office. The father was lying on the bed, partially covered with bedding. The investigator’s report said he was found with a pistol loosely gripped in his right hand. Their deaths were determined to be a homicide by the medical examiner’s office.

Paula Truong, 53, Ocheltree’s wife and the mother to the two girls, was found by her brother-in-law in the garage, hanged by the neck. Her death was determined an apparent suicide.

The backstory

On the afternoon of Oct. 8, 9-year-old Mackenzie was reportedly found lying in her bed by her uncle, who was checking on the family’s well-being when he was unable to reach the girl’s father, his brother, over the phone. The uncle also found other family members dead inside the family’s home at 930 Monterey Boulevard. He called 9-1-1.

Responding medics determined the girl was dead. The medical examiner, who also arrived at the scene, presumed the others found dead to be the girl’s sister, the girl’s father – both found dead in their beds – and the girl’s mother, who was found in the garage, hanged by the neck.

Gunshot residue and samples were taken as evidence from the home.

The girls’ uncle and The San Francisco Unified School District helped positively identify the victims. Their parents were identified by fingerprints with the San Francisco Police Department’s Identification Bureau.

The girls’ grandmother is listed as the next-of-kin on the medical examiner’s death certificates. For their father, the next-of-kin listed was his mother.

Dig deeper

Rigor mortis was present to varying degrees in the two girls’ bodies and their mother’s, while it was absent from the father, according to the reports.

Trazadone, an antidepressant, and oxycodone were present in Truong’s toxicology report. Buprenorphine, an opioid to treat severe pain, was present in the 9-year-old girl’s toxicology report, while an antihistamine with sedative effects was present in the 12-year-old girl’s toxicology report.

The motive in this case remains unclear.

The Chronicle reports the couple had lost the home to foreclosure amid several business failures.

KTVU had previously reported the family had just moved to the neighborhood about a year ago and were known for elaborate holiday decorations.

Neighbors were left shaken when they heard the news. Some had said they hadn’t seen the family in the last few months.