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Mark and Sarah Humiston, who were wiped out with three of their children by their teenage son, have been described as abusive.
The couple, 43 and 42, and their children, Benjamin, 13, Joshua, 9, and Katheryn, 7, were found dead in their upscale house in Washington, United States in October 2024.
All the victims had bullet wounds. Only one daughter, 11, escaped the tragedy.
Their 15-year-old son called the police to falsely report that his younger brother, Benjamin, committed the crime.
He lied that Benjamin was caught with porn the previous night and was scolded by his parents.
The teenager further told the police that Benjamin got hold of the family firearms and shot his parents and his three siblings before killing himself.
He arranged the scene to make it look like Benjamin indeed killed himself.
The lie was busted when the lone survivor was interrogated by the police. She told the police that her 15-year-old brother was the perpetrator.
The girl told the police she saw her eldest brother shooting other family members and feeling their pulses to be sure they were dead.
She further told the police she only escaped by shutting her eyes and holding her breath to look dead.
The lone survivor told the police she later escaped from the fire window in her room and ran to their closest neighbour.
As the trial of the teenager commenced in court, his defence counsel told the court the Humistons adopted a queer parenting style.
He accused the late parents of isolating the children from the rest of society and controlling their lives.
The counsel further told the court that the couple belonged to a queer religious sect and would not allow anyone else in their home apart from members of their sect.
He said the Humistons were suspicious of government polices and the COVID-19 vaccine.
The counsel also disclosed that the kids were homeschooled and raised under a strict, militant survivalist ideology.
According to him, the parents taught the kids to handle firearms in case they needed to defend themselves.
Sarah’s mother allegedly corroborated most of the claims. She accused her daughter of being ‘abusive and demeaning’ to their kids.
She told the police that she, at some point, ordered her daughter to stop the abusive behaviour or she would call the police.
The defence lawyer complained that the isolation of the kids made it difficult for him to build a picture of their lives before the tragedy.
The trial continues.
