Father cut throats as kids wept, files show
He allegedly told his estranged wife that he ‘left her a present’
Two young children stabbed to death Saturday cried and pleaded with their father to spare them in the minutes before he slit their throats at his apartment, according to court records.
Jean Pierre Ndossoka is alleged to have told his wife to drop by the apartment because he’d left her a “present,” according to records in his capital murder case.
“Daddy, I’m sorry,” the 8year-old told his father. His 1year-old sister just cried.
After the southwest Houston double slaying, the 61-year-old Ndossoka went on the run. Police found him in his pickup in
Pasadena the next morning, still alive but bleeding from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He remains hospitalized.
He was charged with two counts of capital murder — one for each child. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.
The tragedy began to unfold early Saturday, after Sabine Ntongo dropped her kids off at their father’s apartment for visitation, police said. The couple, who are separated, emigrated to the U.S. from the Congo several years ago and are naturalized citizens, according to published reports.
All day, Ndossoka called his wife while she was at work. Midafternoon, he told her she needed to come by his apartment on Fondren.
He had killed the children and “left her a present,” he allegedly said. There would be a key under the mat so she could come find it, he told her, according to court records.
The woman rushed over to Ndossoka’s place and let herself in. When she found her two children on the bed with their throats slit, she called 911.
Responding officers found a bloody knife and a handwritten note in French near the bed, telling Ntongo she would “carry the burden” of her children’s souls. Ndossoka wrote that he planned to die with the kids, records show.
But he had already fled. Houston police put out a vehicle description and mounted a search.
Authorities eventually picked him up in Pasadena around 1 a.m. At first he said he didn’t remember what happened, according to court records.
But under questioning at the hospital, he admitted he “did something bad” and claimed to have high blood pressure. First, he allegedly said he’d choked the children. Then he admitted to using a knife and leaving a note, according to court records.
Eventually, he told investigators his children’s last words.
He was arrested and charged Sunday and does not appear to have an assigned attorney yet. He’s due in court at 1 p.m. Wednesday.