Police consider motive of murder-suicide
JANESVILLE — Rexhep and Shukrije Menxhiqi had argued over domestic issues, but none of the arguments escalated to physical violence, a Janesville police detective said this morning.
Rexhep shot and killed Shukrije, his wife, Saturday morning in their Janesville home, then turned the 9 mm semiautomatic pistol on himself.
Shukrije was shot four times in the chest, and her death was determined to be homicide.
Rexhep died of a single self-inflicted gunshot to the chest, Rock County Coroner Jenifer Keach determined Sunday after autopsies at the Veterans Administration Hospital morgue in Madison.
Janesville police were called to the Menxhiqi home at 12 N. Washington St. at 9:05 a.m. Saturday. Investigators quickly realized they were dealing with a murder-suicide.
On Saturday, Janesville police reported that they had never been called to the Menxhiqi home for domestic disturbances or mental health issues.
But after interviewing the Menxhiqi children, police think the parents were involved in domestic incidents and arguments in the past, but none reached the point of physical violence, said Lt. Tim Hiers, head of Janesville police detectives.
Police still are trying to determine what triggered the extreme violence of Saturday, Hiers added.
Four of the Menxhiqi’s five children were home at the time. The fifth child, a 19-year-old son, was not home when the shootings occurred.
The children stayed at a friend’s home over the weekend, Hiers said, but he was unsure of their plans.
Toxicology results are pending, but police said their initial opinion is that neither alcohol nor drugs were a factor in the murder-suicide.
Police think the gun, a legally owned firearm, had been in the household for some time before the shootings, Hiers said.
The murder-suicide is the second such domestic tragedy to Rock County in less than a month. Shaun Vordermann shot and killed his wife, Jennifer, then killed himself in their Edgerton home in mid-August.
The Associated Bank at 2720 N. Lexington Drive plans to set up an account today for the family. People can donate by bringing money to that location. More details weren’t immediately available.
The couple’s five children were in Milwaukee today, awaiting the arrival of a cousin from Albania, according to information that Janesville public school principals shared with their staffs this morning.
“They are anxious to return to Albania with their parents’ bodies for the funeral and to be with their relatives. At this point they are all planning to return to Janesville,” according to a statement prepared for the principals to read.
The children are ages 9, 12, 16, 18 and 19.
Principals and social workers met over the weekend to prepare to handle the news today, the first day of school, district spokeswoman Sheryl Miller said.
A memorial service might be held at a mosque in Kenosha, according to the school district statement.
“Please be sensitive to students and staff who may have a hard time with this news,” the statement urges staff members. “Refer names of people you are concerned about to the office secretaries to relay to our … counselors.”
The four younger children attend Madison Elementary, Franklin Middle, Parker High and Rock River Charter schools.
Police did not expect the children to attend school today, Miller said.
The school district is making counselors and social workers available today for any child who needs them at Madison and Parker. Franklin and Rock River are holding parent-teacher-student conferences today, so counselors will be available to them Wednesday if needed, Miller said.
Director of Student Services Karen Schulte said officials this morning were deciding whether they would need to announce the news to students this afternoon.
Only ninth-graders attended Parker this morning. The 10th-, 11th- and 12th-graders join them in the afternoon.
—Frank Schultz and Stacy Vogel contributed to this report.
Sep 8, 2008 at 2:01 p.m.
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there was an article in sunday paper front page 9/7. that seemed to blain the war in kosovo for his actions.
gazette why isnt this article on the site?
Sep 4, 2008 at 1:19 p.m.
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It's funny how in this situation the husband is to blame but when it comes to the Vordermann's it was Edgerton Police Department and Crisis Interventions fault that the husband shot his wife. What if the Janesville Police Department and Crisis Intervention were involved in the Menxhiqi's problems? Would everyone still be blaming the husband? Doubt it!! People make choices everyday and need to be accountable for their actions.
Sep 3, 2008 at 5:46 a.m.
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onelifetolive, what difference does the length of the gun make?? My guns haven't killed anything!! and they are handguns. And yes you can hunt with handguns. Again, it was the husbands fault, not the guns. A gun is just a tool. Let's not forget we had a very tragic triple murder here not to long ago, and there was not a gun in sight! Guns are not the issue here.
Sep 3, 2008 at 5:23 a.m.
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How horrible for these children! I pray they have strong extended family in Albania... The anguish they must be experiencing, I can't even fathom. They'll need emotional support for years to come.
Sep 2, 2008 at 9:34 p.m.
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I'm betting his gun was a handgun and not used for hunting.
Sep 2, 2008 at 9:13 p.m.
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I grew up with guns in our house. My father was a hunter. He taught us kids to respect them. They were not a toy. My father was also in WWII. We never had a problem with anyone getting hurt. And they were never locked up. But put in a save place, not in the open. Maybe there should be a class for the families that do have guns in the house, if the parents aren't going to teach them. Just like hunters safety. And if they don't pass....NO GUNS!!!
Sep 2, 2008 at 8:26 p.m.
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Guns don't kill people, people kill people.
Limiting gun ownership isn't the answer.
Sep 2, 2008 at 8:09 p.m.
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***glock21sf***
You are a very wise person, I do agree with you 100%.
...May GOD bless those children and keep them safe... I am praying for you guys to stay strong and remember we all in Janesville are pulling for you...
Sep 2, 2008 at 8:07 p.m.
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The "motive" for a murder/suicide is suicide with taking someone else along....coward type behavior.jmo, peace. it is sad either way.
Sep 2, 2008 at 6:21 p.m.
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How about putting the blame where it belongs. The husband made a choice, and now a family is suffering because of it. Don't blame an inanimate object for their deaths. He pulled the trigger, just like a drunk driver who chooses to drive drunk and wipe out a family, but you never hear the public blame the evil car. No different here.
Sep 2, 2008 at 6:05 p.m.
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Janesvillian, you need to get your head out of the ground. Guns had NOTHING to do with this. If they didn't have a gun it would have still have occured. Guns don't kill people, people kill people. He would have just used another implement. How many people do you here about being killed at gun shows, gun stores, or police stations???? I own several guns and would never use it for ill will. I don't even hunt. The mere presence of firearms doesn't mean someone is going to get injured or killed. It's the intent of the owner. Maybe we should ban automobiles, motorcycles, and cigarettes, they kill more people than guns. Oh, and lets not forget knives. In England they are considering banning knives now because the murder rate went UP when they banned guns. They just switched to another weapon.
Sep 2, 2008 at 3:52 p.m.
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I read these stories on the gazette website and when I get to the end of the stories, there's always reader comments. Some good, some not so good. Quite honestly, I think the comments do nothing but give the Gazette a bad name. That's why I choose to ignore them and never respond. I can't seem to ignore the last comment though. IT"S NOT THE GUNS! People, if someone wants to do something of this nature, you're not going to stop them. You can't control their actions. I'm fed up with hearing about how it's because of this or that. As sad as it is, it's part of life.
Sep 2, 2008 at 3:40 p.m.
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I feel so bad for those children. It has to be devastating for all of them. To be in the home while this happened! I hope the community pulls together and helps these children. Thank you to Associated Bank for setting up this account for them. They will need it.
Sep 2, 2008 at 2:11 p.m.
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happycamper, the obvious thing would be to limit gun ownership as much as possible, but that's politically impossible. Otherwise, we are very much a society that prefers -- by the way we vote -- to deal with these problems after they occur.
Sep 2, 2008 at 12:45 p.m.
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"Shukrije was shot four times in the chest, and her death was determined to be homicide".
That's anger my friends! What can a community do to see that these sensless murders do not happen?
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