Murder-suicide stuns Peabody

EDITOR'S NOTE: Because of reporting and editing errors, material taken from a MySpace website was mistakenly attributed to George D. Kalogeropoulos in a story in Sunday's City & Region section about Kalogeropoulos's killing of his father and sister and suicide. The website cited in the story is that of another individual who is unconnected to the events described. The material should not have been published.

PEABODY -- George D. Kalogeropoulos considered himself an underachiever, but an honest one. ``I don't have time to lie," the 25-year-old wrote in his profile on MySpace.com. He dreamed of having children one day, and the gallery of pictures he posted on the website show him smiling with friends and family, including two photos with his father, Demetrios .

Yesterday, the scarlet SUV in which the younger Kalogeropoulos shot himself remained parked in the driveway of his parents' gray two-story home, splotches of blood covering the steering wheel and the driver's side seat. Inside the house, authorities say, Kalogeropoulos stabbed his 52-year-old father on Friday, as well as his 23-year-old sister Joanne , before turning a gun on himself. Kalogeropoulos's mother, Marina, discovered the scene when she came home shortly before 2:30 p.m.

``We don't know how this could happen," said a tearful man who identified himself as Marina Kalogeropoulos's brother as he stood outside the house. Marina was holding up as well as she could, he said. ``Not only did she lose a husband, she lost her two children," he said. ``We can't talk about it yet. It is too much."

Peabody police declined to speculate on a reason for the double slaying, releasing a statement that said ``the motive remains under investigation." Kalogeropoulos had no criminal record, police said, and he had a license to carry the silver handgun found at his feet, as well as three other guns.

Neighbors said they did not notice anything unusual about the family, which appeared to be just another hard-working immigrant family in the diverse neighborhood of multi-story brick homes and long driveways. Marina owned a hair salon in Danvers, neighbors said, while her daughter was a customer service representative at the Sports Authority in a Danvers mall.

Yesterday, Maria Rodrigues , who lives next door to the Kalogeropoulos family, stared into the family's yard from her front porch and described how on Friday morning she had seen Demetrios Kalogeropoulos in his backyard, taking out the trash. He waved to her, and then went back inside the house, she said.

But that afternoon, she heard the sound of gunshots and then the blaring of what sounded like a car alarm or horn, she said.

``The son was in the car, his body crumpled over the steering wheel, and there was some noise, like the horn, or something," Rodrigues said yesterday .

Joshua Roberts , a close friend of Joanne Kalogeropoulos, said he had met her brother several times, but had rarely spoken with him.

``He was a really good kid," he said. ``I never asked her about her family stuff. I never expected anything like this to happen."

George Kalogeropoulos last logged into his MySpace.com profile on Thursday. The site gives few indications of deep personal trouble. He portrays himself as a somewhat cynical person who is suspicious of ``fake people." He lists himself as a 1999 graduate of Veterans Memorial High School in Peabody, which neighbors confirmed, but he also lists himself as having graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a Ph.D., a claim that could not be verified. He lists his occupation as ``nuclear pharmacist."

The profile includes only a couple of minor depictions of violence, including an image of actor Al Pacino holding a gun for his role in ``Scarface" and a video clip of a cat knocking down a toddler. Instead, Kalogeropoulos comes across as exceptionally proud of his Greek heritage -- his screen name is ``Grecian Prince" -- as well as of his friends and family. In one group picture, both father and son smile for the camera.

Joanne , who Roberts said graduated with a degree in fashion from Newbury College in Brookline, had dreamed of moving to Los Angeles or New York and becoming a successful fashion designer.

She had worked at the Sports Authority for seven years, her manager said.

``She was always smiling," said Roberts, as he sat yesterday outside the Sunbanque tanning salon in Beverly, where he works and she was a frequent customer. ``She was always so sweet. . . . She was really close with her family, especially her mom."

On workdays, Joanne often visited her mother, who ran Marina's Hair Salon, across from the mall where her daughter worked . There, the employees were so distraught that none showed up for work yesterday, said Lou Rosenberg , a store manager. Temporary employees were brought in from other Sports Authority stores in the area.

Yesterday a somber sign in the window of the salon read: ``Due to a sudden family tragedy, the shop will be closed until further notice."

The grief was palpable on Joanne's MySpace.com profile. Among the 50 people who had posted messages since the deaths was one from a friend named Gina King: ``Joanne, this breaks my heart. Just to think that you and I were on the phone making plans the night before this happened. . . . You were a wonderful and good person. . . . I miss you already, and I haven't stopped crying since this happened. Rest in peace, friend."

Scott Allen can be reached at allen@globe.com. Cristina Silva can be reached at csilva@globe.com. Globe correspondent Yuxing Zheng contributed to this report.