Slaughter Of The Innocents

A once ‘devoted’ father murdered his sleeping children. Why? A chilling video-recording revealed the reason… Revenge.

- Angela Johnson

A quiet neighbourhood in Los Angeles appeared to have slept soundly on 19 February 2002.

Until, around 6am, when a grandmother smelt smoke as she unlocked the front door to the home of her six young grandchildren...

Inside, she was met with a nightmare scene.

The innocent children, aged between 2 and 10, lay in their beds, smothered by deadly carbon monoxide fumes.

One girl, Kassandra, 9, was unconscious – as was the dad, Adair Javier Garcia, 30, found beside a smouldering barbecue in the hallway.

Firefighters arrived at 6.30am to find Brenda, 10, Jonathan, 6, and Anthony, 2, dead in their pyjamas. 

Sadly, Cecilia, 4, and Vanessa, 6, died in hospital, while Kassandra and Adair received treatment for carbon-monoxide poisoning.

Investigators initially believed the children had died following a tragic attempt by Adair to heat the family home in the Pico Rivera area of LA.

But, as the children’s mother, Adriana Ibeth Arreola, arrived on the scene, it became clear all was not as it seemed.

A neighbour said that when deputies refused to let Adriana into the house, she became hysterical.

‘Let me see my kids... I know he did it,’ she reportedly yelled.

Meanwhile, authorities discoverd the gas heaters in the home were working. 

This was no accident.