An 18-year-old man confessed to fatally shooting his parents, grandfather, brother and his brother's girlfriend on the day his father had threatened to kick him out of the house, a prosecutor said.
Seth Privacky was arraigned Tuesday on five counts of open murder. Privacky said he would have had to move out Sunday -- the day of the shootings, prosecutor Tony Tague said.The teen said he shot the five in their heads at close range, execution-style, Tague said.
Privacky's classmate, 18-year-old Steven Wallace, was arraigned on the same charges. Both were jailed on $5 million bail.
Killed were Privacky's parents, Stephen Privacky, 50, and Linda A. Privacky, 49; his grandfather John J. Privacky, 78; his brother, Jedediah, 19; and Jedediah's girlfriend, April A. Boss, 19. Their bodies were discovered early Monday morning.
Court records released Tuesday indicated that Privacky's parents became concerned with his psychological well-being last year after he was twice picked up for shoplifting.
In a letter to Muskegon's Juvenile Court on May 22, 1997, Linda Privacky said a family doctor prescribed an antidepressant medication for Privacky and referred the family to a counselor for therapy.
After the arraignment, Tague told reporters that Privacky made his confession about an hour before the arraignment. Tague said the teen-ager told authorities he shot all five, point-blank in the head, and then moved the bodies around with Wallace's help to make it look like a robbery.