Ganesha Rajaram, 12

Died Oct. 6, 2008 at 7:30 a.m.

Ganesha Rajaram, a 12-year-old boy, was among five family members shot and killed by his father on Monday, Oct. 6, at 20644 Como Lane in Chatsworth. 

His father, Karthik Rajaram, a 45-year-old Indian man,  then committed suicide, according to authorities.

When police entered the home in the gated, Spanish-style community, they first found the gunman's mother-in-law, Indra Ramasesham, 69, dead in a downstairs bedroom. His wife and three sons — Krishna, 19, a sophomore at UCLA majoring in business economics; Ganesha, and Arjuna, 7, all named after Indian gods and warriors — were discovered in various upstairs bedrooms, all shot in the head, some with multiple gunshot wounds.

The following is an excerpt from The Times' coverage of the slayings:

Karthik Rajaram had fallen hard.

The 45-year-old Porter Ranch financial manager who once made more than $1.2 million in a London-based venture fund had lost his job. His luck playing the stock market ran out.

On Sept. 16, he bought a gun. He wrote two suicide notes and a last will and testament. And then, sometime between Saturday night and Monday morning, he killed his wife, mother-in-law and three sons, and took his own life.

"This is a perfect American family behind me that has absolutely been destroyed, apparently because of a man who just got stuck in a rabbit hole, if you will, of absolute despair, somehow working his way into believing this to be an acceptable exit," said LAPD Deputy Chief Michel Moore. "It is critical to step up and recognize we are in some pretty troubled times."

In a letter addressed to police, Rajaram blamed his actions on economic hardships. A second letter, labeled "personal and confidential," was addressed to family friends; the third contained a last will and testament, Moore said.

The letter to police voiced two options: taking his own life, or killing himself and his entire family. "He talked himself into the second strategy," Moore said. "That that would be the honorable thing to do."