After a man killed his mother and brother in an apparent murder-suicide earlier this month, one family member is sharing insight into who the killer and victims were as people.
Authorities claim the killings took place on August 11 at around 1 a.m. at the Hilltop Manor Trailer Park in Whitefield, New Hampshire. At the time, a man shot two of his family members inside of their shared home.
Police later identified matriarch Amy Blake and her two sons, Michael Marro and Eric Blake Jr., who went by his middle name of Nicholas, as the victims after all three were found wounded by apparent gunfire.
After an autopsy was performed on Nicholas, 29, it was determined that he shot Amy, 59, and Marro, 41, before he died by suicide. Both Amy and Marro were found alive in critical condition, but died within weeks of the attack.
After all three family members died, a family member opened up about the murder-suicide while speaking to News 9.
“It’s too sad. They’re so young and they have their whole life ahead of them,” the family member said of the victims weeks after their deaths.
The loved one, who asked to remain anonymous, said those involved in the murder-suicide “were just like any other family” and “they were all happy.”
Police have not yet revealed a potential motive for the murder-suicide, but the family member shared that Nick had been struggling with mental illness prior to the killings.
“Mental illness took Nicholas too young, and he struggled for a long time,” she continued. “If he could have just got some help. We may not have to talk about this situation. “You know, no one would ever have thought that things had been so bad that this could have happened.”
The family member went on to say that she didn’t want Amy, Marro and Nick to be defined by the tragedy. She instead said that she will choose to remember them as “full of life” and a “typical family.”
“They were just such a great family. They grew up in Whitefield, and their house was the house where all the kids hung out,” she told the outlet.
She added that the person who killed her loved ones “was not Nick.” She continued that the Nick she knew was a “great kid, friendly, handsome [and] just fun to be around.”
“Both he and his brother both really enjoyed being in the restaurant business and in the kitchen,” she shared. “They both loved to cook.”
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.















