NBC

911 Call Tied to Double Homicide in New Milford Released

Authorities have released a 911 call made to North Carolina police made by the mother of a suspect believed to have been involved in a double homicide in New Milford before shooting himself in New York. Police said the incidents are all tied to the homicide of an infant in North Carolina.

"He said, he doesn't have, he killed his wife, he killed her father. And he, I can't even believe this is happening. " In a chilling 911 call, a mother told authorities she feared her son had gone on a multi-state killing spree.

That call sent investigators in multiple states scrambling to piece together the case.

Two people were found dead near the intersection of Route 55 and 7 in New Milford Thursday morning.

The suspect was also found dead just across the border in Dover, New York.

"My son just called me and he told me he, oh God, he killed his baby and he's in the house,” a woman can be heard saying in the call.

That 911 call sent officers rushing to a home in Knightdale, North Carolina. Officers there discovered a 7-month old boy dead. But there was no sign of the boy's father. Police did not provide details on how the baby may have died.

"Did he say how he did it? Or what he did?" a dispatcher asked.

"I didn't ask him. I didn't ask him. I didn't want to know,” the woman responded.

That's when a hunt started for a suspect, 43-year-old Steven Pladl. Hundreds of miles north in Duchess County, New York, investigators discovered that Pladl apparently took his own life in a van. Police believe Pladl was involved in the slaying of two others a few miles away in Connecticut, according to police in Knightdale, North Carolina.

A daughter and her adoptive father were found dead in a pickup truck at the intersection of Routes 55 and 7 Thursday morning. The suspect in the case was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Dover, New York. Police said the incidents are all tied to the homicide of an infant in North Carolina.

"It is our understanding, yes, that Mr. Pladl drove to that area for the specific purpose of making some confrontations," Chief Lawrence Capps of the Knightdale, N.C. police department.

Thursday morning in New Milford, detectives said Pladl's daughter and her adoptive father were found shot and killed in a pick-up truck. NBC Connecticut has learned that Pladl had a romantic relationship with his biological daughter, Katie, and it was their son found dead in North Carolina.

Based on the 911 call, it appears the 20-year-old was done with her dad as a lover.

"His wife broke up with him over the phone yesterday."

The father-daughter couple were known to authorities in North Carolina. According to court records, they were arrested in January following the birth of their son and they faced charges including incest.

Contact Us