SIOUX CITY, Iowa — A 23-year-old man was arrested Friday on suspicion of killing his girlfriend, her five children and an acquaintance in what the police chief called the worst mass murder in the city's history.
Adam Matthew Moss, 23, was captured without a struggle as he hid behind a pile of plywood, Police Chief Joe Frisbie said after a frantic all-night search by authorities.
Police offered no motive for the slayings. Neighbors said he could be friendly and helpful but had a history of violence. His own brother filed a restraining order against him last week.
The body of Leticia Aguilar, 31, was found at her home by a baby sitter Thursday night, along with those of her children, ages 6 to 12.
The bodies appeared to have been there for a few days, authorities said. Police would not say how they were killed, but Frisbie described the slayings as "brutal" and said officers would be offered stress counseling.
Police said they had recovered a weapon believed used in the slayings but refused to elaborate.
"This individual can make a weapon out of anything, I'll tell you that," Frisbie said.
The sitter, Donna Stabile, said she went to the house when the children — Claudia, 12; Zach, 11; Larry, 9; Lisa, 7; and Michael, 6 — didn't show up at her home after school. She said she had a key to Aguilar's back door and used it to enter the older, two-story white home.
"When I walked in, the first thing I noticed was that their 32-inch TV was missing," Stabile said. Then she went upstairs and saw the bodies.
"I saw two kids lying face down, and there was a lot of blood," she said. "I could barely see them because the place was such a mess."
The seventh victim was Ronald Fish, 58, the owner of a tire store and service station whose body was found at his home in a country club neighborhood. At about the same time, Stabile was making her grim discovery two miles away in a poor area of the city's west side.
The police chief said officers were about five minutes behind Moss all night as people reported spotting him. One call reported him at a budget motel.
"When we got there we found the door was ajar with the key still in it," the chief said.
The slayings shocked many in this Missouri River city of 84,000. Police said the last multiple killing in Sioux City was a triple homicide 26 years ago.
"This community was scared to death," Frisbie said. "Everyone was worried about their children and the schools and wondering if they were safe in their homes."
Police said Moss and Aguilar both worked at Smurfit-Stone Container Co., which makes cardboard and other paper products. The company said Moss had quit recently.
Fred Scaletta, spokesman for the Iowa Corrections Department, said Moss received a year of probation in 1995 for assault with injury. The next year, he was placed on two years' probation for burglary and theft.
Just last week, Moss' younger brother, Jason Moss, obtained a restraining order against him for assault, said Charlene Peterson, a trial court supervisor. She would not provide details.
School counselors were called in to comfort schoolchildren after learning five of their classmates were dead. Three of the children were in elementary school, the others in middle school.
"They were truly wonderful kids," Everett Elementary principal Michaela Hansen said. "They were really outgoing and friendly. People liked them. My heart just goes out to that family."
Superintendent Larry Williams added: "It's something the entire city and region will wrestle with for some time."