Thanksgiving Murder-Suicide in Laytonsville, Maryland

5 People Found Dead

On Thanksgiving night, police found five dead bodies in the town of Laytonsville, Maryland at 1.5 acre Unity Park. It is believed to have been a murder-suicide with a domestic related motive. Laytonsville, Maryland is a small town that is located about twenty-five miles away from Washington.

Park police discovered the bodies during a routine patrol of the park. They called the Montgomery County Police for assistance with the crime scene. Police found four dead bodies located inside two different vehicles at the entrance of the park. Upon a further search of the area, police found a fifth dead body located in the nearby woods.

The four bodies in the cars have been identified as a mother and her three children. The mother, Gail Louise Pumphrey was 43 years old. Her two sons were ages 6 and 12 years old. Her daughter was 12 years old. The names of the children have not been released at this time. The body found in the nearby woods was identified as David Peter Brockdorff, age 40 years old. David Peter Brockdorff was the father of the children. The bodies have been taken to the medical examiner to be autopsied.

The cars that the bodies were found in were a Ford Taurus that is believed to have belonged to Gail Louise Pumphrey, and a Nissan Altima that David Peter Brockdorff arrived in. The Nissan Altima that Brockdorff arrived in had been reported stolen in Frederick County, Maryland.

Police believe that David Peter Brockdorff met his ex-wife Gail Louise Pumphry to pick up the children for visitation. For reasons that are unknown at this time, David Peter Brockdorff shot and killed his ex-wife Gail Louise Pumphrey and their three children. After murdering his ex-wife and children, David went to the nearby woods and committed suicide by shooting himself. Police found a .22 caliber rifle next to David Peter Brockdorffs' body.

Public records reveal that the couple had a past history of domestic violence. The couple had divorced in 2005.

There have been no reports of witnesses to the crime coming forward. Nor has anyone reported hearing any gunshots.