The husband and wife and twin sons who were killed last weekend in a home in San Mateo have been identified, and they reportedly moved into the home in 2020 shortly after the boys were born.
It was confirmed earlier this week that the husband and wife died of gunshot wounds in a murder-suicide, and the twin boys, who were four years old, were found in their bedroom. The boys' cause of death is not yet known, and they showed no signs of bodily trauma.
The family has been identified as 37-year-old Anand Sujith Henry, who is believed to have been the gunman, and his wife 38-year-old Alice Priyanka Benziger. The two sons were named Noah and Nathan.
Henry worked as a software engineer and manager at both Google and Meta before recently launching an AI firm called Logits, according to LinkedIn. Benziger worked as a data science manager at Zillow. Both attended Carnegie Mellon University, and according to The Indian Express, they were from the state of Kerala in India — or at least Henry was — and they had moved to the US together seven years ago. (But obviously they were both also here for college, and Benziger received a master's degree at USF, according to LinkedIn.)
The Indian Express also reported different ages for the couple, saying that Henry was older, and 42 years old, and that Benziger was 40.
As Bay Area News Group reports via San Mateo police, authorities have reported no recent history of responding to the home in the quiet Sugarloaf neighborhood — but they did have a call in 2020 about a mountain lion sighting in the yard.
A woman who sold the couple the home in 2020 but never met them in person, Joyce Millman, tells the Chronicle that she had been in email contact with Alice Benziger for months after the family moved in. She said that Benziger seemed to have outsized anxieties about the safety of the neighborhood — break-ins, as well as mountain lions.
"The irony of it now just breaks my heart," Millman tells the Chronicle. "She was so focused on the dangers outside."
She said she also had a sneaking feeling, even before she knew the block on which the murders took place, that this was the family involved because "something was off" with them.
The murder-suicide apparently took place only a week after Benziger's mother had left to return to India, after living with the couple for a year. That is according to the Indian Express.
San Mateo police have said that a welfare check had been requested Monday morning, February 12, by the children's grandmother, who could not reach the couple. A new nanny also apparently was unable to reach the couple, causing alarm.
Police say that the deaths likely occurred Saturday night, February 10. Benziger was found shot in a bathtub, and Henry was found in the same bathroom. Saturday was the last time that family members had been in touch with the couple.
Previously: San Mateo Deaths Look to Be Triple Murder-Suicide, Father Was Gunman
If you or someone you know may be struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can call or text "988" any time day or night to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or chat online.
Photo via San Mateo Police/Facebook
