DA: BIZARRE I-495 TRAGEDY A MURDER-SUICIDE ; Aunt Once Had `Brief Mental Illness'

Jan 19, 03:44 PM

Family, friends and even law enforcement could come to only one conclusion yesterday after the announcement by the Middlesex district attorney that a much-loved Bellingham woman had killed herself and her twin sister's young children in a bizarre and horrific double murder-suicide Jan. 11: "It doesn't make any sense."

"There are not many other scenarios that I can think of as tragic as this one," said Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone, whose office investigated the baffling tragedy that unfolded Jan. 11 after Marcelle "Marci" Thibault picked up 5-year-old Kaleigh and 4-year- old Shane Lambert from her sister's New Hampshire home to take them to her house for a "pirate and princess" sleepover party.

Leone said Thibault had once suffered "brief mental illness," but the events were no less inexplicable. The district attorney said the mother of two teenage children was driving a 2003 Lincoln sedan southbound on Interstate 495 in Lowell when she turned the car sharply and drove across the median strip and into oncoming traffic on the northbound side.

She drove the car in the breakdown lane on the northbound side before exiting onto a grassy shoulder, he said. Thibault got out of the car and undressed herself and the children, Leone said. She then scooped up the children in her arms and walked into the highway, he said.

Leone said Thibault and the children were struck by two cars. The operators of those vehicles did nothing wrong, Leone said. The aunt and children were pronounced dead at area hospitals.

"It doesn't make any sense to me," said the Rev. David Mullen of St. Brendan's parish, where Thibault had recently become active as a volunteer. "I don't know what suffering she would be in. Her personality was very upbeat. It's not the personality of someone who plots to take someone else's children."

Thibault had experienced "brief mental illness and some treatment," Leone said. She did not leave a suicide note.

"It was literally a brief incident. It appeared she was fully recovered. There were no signs from anyone close to her that that there was any chance of a relapse," said Paul Young, a family spokesman.

Young said he had no other details about the episode or how it was treated. He told the Associated Press the episode was in the past year.

Leone said investigators decided the deaths were a murder- suicide after a week of interviews with family members, friends and witnsesses. He said there was nothing in Thibault's demeanor that suggested she was poised to kill the children when she picked them up for the sleepover party.

"These are very loving parents who would not let their children go with their aunt if they thought the children were in any danger," Leone said of Danielle and Ken Lambert.

Thibault, a former prom queen and star high school athlete, was a stay-at-home mom who volunteered at her church. She frequently threw parties at her home for her neighbors and her nieces and nephews, and she loved kids, friends and relatives said. More than 700 people attended her funeral this week.

"She was a very sweet, positive person," said one neighbor yesterday.

Thibault married her high school sweetheart, Michael. She and her identical twin, Danielle, were each other's maids of honor and were called the "giggle sisters" when they were children because they were always laughing.

"We came from a large, close-knit family, just like our parents did, and we wanted our children to grow up with that same closeness," sister Tamsyn Coady of Webster told the Herald last week.

The Lamberts' children were much loved by their family. Shane "was the classic boy. He loved trucks and trains," Coady said.

Kaleigh was fascinated by maps and globes, studying the world in hopes of traveling it someday.

Family and friends in Massachusetts and New Hampshire stayed behind closed doors last night.

At the Lamberts' home in Brentwood, N.H., a swingset stood in the yard yesterday, and a sign detailed information about funeral services. It said, in part: "Words can't express the grief we are going through at the loss of our family members. We loved our two darling children, Kaleigh, and Shane, and their aunt, daughter, and wife, Marcelle Thibault with all our hearts. Out family is devastated and trying to come to terms with the tragic deaths."

CAPTION: REST IN PEACE: Mourners carry the casket of Marcelle `Marci' Thibault after her funeral Wednesday. STAFF PHOTO BY TED FITZGERALD

CAPTION: GRIEF: Michael Thibault, right, and his children, Cassandra and Cameron, leave St. Blaise Church in Bellingham after attending a service for wife and mother Marcelle `Marci' Thibault, who died trying to cross Interstate 495. STAFF PHOTO BY TED FITZGERALD

GRAPHIC: Highway horror

Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone announced yesterday that the baffling Interstate 495 deaths on Jan. 11 of Marcelle Thibault and her niece and nephew, Kaleigh and Shane Lambert, are now considered a murder-suicide. Here's how the tragedy unfolded, according to Leone.

1. Marcelle Thibault, driving southbound on I-495, veered across the grassy median strip and began driving into oncoming traffic before stopping on the side of the road.

2. Thibault pulls over into a grassy area near Exit 37, then undresses herself and her niece and nephew.

3. Thibault and the kids exit the vehicle. She lifts the children into her arms and walks them onto the highway.

4. While attempting to cross the highway, the three are struck once in the right or middle lane by a sedan and then struck again in the left lane by a station wagon.

Source: Middlesex District Attorney's Office

STAFF GRAPHIC

(For complete graphic, see Boston Herald microfilm or .PDF)

BOX:

`UNBELIEVABLY TRAGIC'

Marcelle "Marci" Thibault was known as a warm, loving mother, aunt and neighbor. The announcement yesterday by the Middlesex district attorney's office that she had killed herself and her niece and nephew left friends and family reeling. Following, their reactions and a sampling of how Thibault has been described in recent days:

"This is a case of bad things happening to good people and you don't know why. It's just a horrible thing."

- Thibault's mother, Candelora Coady, last week after the loss of her daughter and two grandchildren

"It's a tragedy all the way around of course. There was no sign that I could see of mental illness. . . . I never saw any signs of problems. (Thibault was ) very positive and very generous."

- The Rev. David Mullen, pastor of St. Brendan's Church in Bellingham, where Thibault was a frequent volunteer

"I just don't believe it's true."

- Wally Barnes, 76, neighbor of Thibault's mother

"She was very supportive of the players. . . . I was a little shocked, a little confused. I didn't understand. . . . I'm pretty much numb from the news. She was a nice lady and has a nice family."

- Bellingham hockey coach Ken Bertoni, who coaches Thibault's son, Cameron, and nephew, Lyndon

"Marci was focused on keeping the kids connected. She wanted them to have that feeling of a large family group."

-Thibault's sister Stacey Coady, 40, of Natick, in an interview last week

"The whole thing is unbelievably tragic."

- The Rev. Thomas Gillespie, pastor at St. Theresa parish in North Reading, where a funeral was held for Kaleigh and Shane Lambert

"Everbody is shocked.It just adds to the whole grief of the situation, the whole tragedy of the situation. I think that there was no indication whatsoever of any relapse. To go from `things are fine' to getting a phone call like they did - you can't put your arms around it."

- The Rev. Marc Drouin, pastor at St. Michael's parish in Exeter, N.H., where the Lambert family worships

"She was very kind and considerate."

- Andrew Cripps, 15, a neighbor and friend of Thibault's children, Cameron and Cassandra

"We'll never understand what happened on the road that night. . . . What may be more important is that the love (they shared) has been carried on into eternal life."

- The Rev. Michael J. Kearney at Thibault's funeral at St. Blaise Church in Bellingham

- HERALD STAFF AND WIRE SERVICES

Originally published by By LAURA CRIMALDI, O'RYAN JOHNSON, JESSICA HESLAM and MARIE SZANISZLO.

(c) 2008 Boston Herald. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved. DA: BIZARRE I-495 TRAGEDY A MURDER-SUICIDE ; Aunt Once Had `Brief Mental Illness'
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