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Officials ID father, mother, and teen daughter found dead in Dover mansion
Police responded to 8 Wilson's Way Thursday night.
A Dover father, mother, and their teenage daughter were found dead in their home Thursday night, according to Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey’s office.
Morrissey identified the deceased as Rakesh Kamal, 57, Teena Kamal, 54, and Arianna Kamal, 18, a Middlebury College student, in a press conference Friday.
Dover Police received a 911 call just before 7:30 p.m. Thursday from a family member who had stopped by the home to check on the family and discovered one of the deceased. That family member lives in the area and had been in contact with the Kamal family but had not heard from them in a “day or two,” Morrissey said.
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Police then responded to the residence at 8 Wilson’s Way, where they found the three dead.
The investigation is at “a very preliminary stage,” Morrissey’s office said, but officials believe the incident did not involve any outside party. There were no signs of a break-in at the home, and the evidence points to this being a “deadly incident of domestic violence,” they said. There is not believed to be any ongoing danger to the Dover community.
Rakesh and Teena Kamal were married, Morrissey said. There were no other members of the family living at the home besides Arianna, the college student.
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A gun was found at the crime scene, Morrissey said. He did not definitively classify the incident as a murder-suicide, or specify exactly where the gun and the bodies were found inside the home.
“It was found near the husband, I’ll just leave it at that,” Morrissey said of the gun.
There were no prior police calls to the home, he said.
“There’s been no police reports, there’s been no problems, no domestic issues, no nothing at that house or in the entire neighborhood that I’m aware of,” Morrissey said.
The property at 8 Wilson’s Way is a massive, 19,000-square-foot estate with 11 bedrooms and 13 bathrooms, according to a listing on Redfin, a real estate site.
“This is an event to remember that domestic violence … crosses all economic and social situations,” Morrissey said.
An investigation is ongoing. State Police, Dover Police, and others worked throughout much of Thursday night to process the crime scene. Autopsies could be completed as soon as Friday afternoon, according to Morrissey.
The Kamal family has relatives both locally and abroad, he said.
The last homicide in Dover occurred in 2020, Morrissey said.
“It’s very rare to have this kind of violent situation almost in any community in Norfolk County, and particularly Dover,” he said. “It’s a small, well-run, well-policed community, but like everybody else, there are problems out there that can affect you no matter where you live.”
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Officials urged members of the public who may be dealing with domestic violence to call the Massachusetts SafeLink hotline at 877-785-2020. The state also operates a suicide and crisis hotline that can be reached by calling or texting 988.
“I hate to see it at any time,” Morrissey told reporters when asked about the timing of the incident. “I think some of the tensions that people feel in relationships often come out around the holidays, which is why we try to get the message out.”
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