David Lauren Crespi, a 45-year-old senior vice president of auditing at Wachovia Bank, stabbed his two 5-year-old twin daughters, Tessara Kate Crespi and Samantha Joy Crespi, to death. Police say they found David Crespi outside of his home after calling 911 claiming he wanted to kill himself.
Neighbors in the affluent Deerfield Creek subdivision in Mathews, North Carolina were shocked by the deaths saying the area is family friendly and that their kids routinely played with Tessara and Samantha.
The mother, Kimberli Crespi, was of course devastated at the news. Tessara and Samantha were her only biological daughters. Three older siblings, from a previous marriage of David Crespi, Jessica, 17, Dylan, 14, and Joshua, 9, were all at school at the time of the murders.
The twins were born in Sacramento, Calif., David Crespi's longtime home, on Oct. 16, 2000. Tessara loved the color purple and dancing, while Samantha loved lambs, pink poodles and the color blue, according to their obituary; both enjoyed dressing as princesses.
A funeral is set for Tuesday at St. Matthew Catholic Church in the Ballantyne area, with other services and burial later in Sacramento
Tessara and I would have gotten along great because I love purple too.
Medic reported that Crespi, 45, called 911 at 12:45 p.m., saying he fatally stabbed his daughters. He also threatened to kill himself, Medic said.
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“We’re not anywhere where we can talk about a motive in this, or any reasons why someone would take the lives of two little girls,” said Keith Bridges, a spokesman for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
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"I can't describe to you how horrific this is and how sad," Bridges said. "It has been a toll on the police officers who were the first on the scene and got control of it."
Do we really need to try and rehabilitate this animal? People like this should be executed instantly. There is no rehabilitation for people like this. When he said he wanted to kill himself razor blades or a cyanide pill should have been provided immediately.
Now the rest of us get to pay for this piece of human filth for as long as he stays in some mental facility or until some really wishy-washy people get all warm and fuzzy and decide to unleash him back onto society.
The family of David Crespi is looking for any reason -- other than personal responsibility -- for why he knifed his two little girls to death.
David Lauren Crespi ... has suffered from depression for years and recently told his parents he didn't like a new medication he was taking, Crespi's father told the Observer on Saturday.
The depression, which began about four years ago, was one of a handful of medical problems the Wachovia Bank senior vice president suffered from, said his father, Lauren Crespi of Angels Camp, Calif.
David Crespi was taking antidepressants, and he recently had trouble getting to sleep, Lauren Crespi said; the new medication was to help cure his insomnia. His son last year conquered an even bigger threat: Doctors diagnosed testicular cancer, which is now in remission, Lauren Crespi said. David Crespi had planned to visit a doctor for a checkup Friday.
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"I just don't understand why he turned on the children," Lauren Crespi said. "I just don't know what snapped."
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[David Crespi] rose to vice president and chief financial officer at Sacramento Savings Bank before it closed in 1994. He later worked as an administrator at the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency and as an executive at The Money Store, a Sacramento-based home equity lender, before moving to Charlotte to work for Wachovia, where he was in the bank's audit division.
There are tons of people who suffer from depression and they don't go around stabbing little 5-year-old girls to death.
All the reports make this guy sound like an angel, but as we all know too well evil lies even in those that appear normal and there is no amount of goodie two shoes BS that can make up for this hateful and vicious attack on two little girls.
It is interesting to compare the Crespi case to another case in the Charlotte metro area. On January 10, Lisa Greene's two children perished when the family mobile home burned down. She was later charged with murder. The local media was unsympathetic to her and never mentioned mental illness as a cause. Now that David Crespi, bank executive and resident of a very affluent neighborhood, has also been arrested for murdering his kids, the local media is very sympathetic and has fallen all over itself to mention his depression. Money will be the big factor in these two cases. Greene will get the death penalty while Crespi's high powered attorneys will get him off on insanity and he will spend 5 years or less in a mental hospital before he walks away a free man.
Posted by: Andy at
January 23, 2006 09:18 PM
I absolutely agree with you Andy and it is why I am so outraged above. It instantly turned from a murder in the papers to a case of "rich nice guy got sad and made a mistake".
Some of those papers I quoted from above dedicate nearly 1/3 to half of their articles to how this guy was so nice and successful and the "typical dad" and not to how vicious this crime was on two little 5-year-old girls who just loved playing, their life and their family.
It's totally ridiculous and just shows how far down our country has fallen with all of these activist causes in the mental health and "feel good" industries coming to the defense of the criminal.
One question that needs to be asked is "What would our Founding Fathers have done to this guy?"
The best thing we can do as a community that are all effected by the evil of David Crespi is to petition the courts and later, after sentencing, the Governor's Clemency Office to keep him forever behind bars. The thought of my tax dollars going to feed and house David Crespi is an outrageous notion. He took life, now his should be taken.
We should all keep up with his parole review dates and be sure to make a lot of noise when those dates come around. I am a mother of two children, have struggled with depression myself, but never in a million years would the thought of harming either of them, nor anyone else, would cross my mind. Depressed, sad, sleepy, stressed out...join the club David Crespi...this is called life!!! The rest of us who experience the same are not going around violently murdering our children. As cold as it may seem, I have no mercy for this man and pray the death penalty is in his near future.
Posted by: Donha at
January 25, 2006 04:31 PM
I guess because you have never met him or his family it is easy to assume that you know all about him from this small glimpse. While those that do know him are at a much greater loss for how this could happen. I wish you were right that we could say he is human trash and a monster. That would make a lot more sense. It would also make us all immune from such a tragedy because our husbands, the fathers of our children are not at all like that. But the TRUTH is that David Crespi has always been a wonderful, kind, gentle man. He has always been a loving and doting father and husband. Something went terribly wrong here. This is not the man known and loved and trusted by many. Don't judge him for being successful, he got there by hard work and perseverence. If a man of such quality could "snap" and do such a horrific thing, maybe there is some merit to the medication theory. It would at least offer some explanation. Your explanation that he's just a bad guy won't hold up to close scrutiny.
Posted by: emt at
January 26, 2006 12:39 AM
I don't buy it. Ted Bundy seemed like a really nice guy as well. College educated, decent looking, well spoken and even worked on Republican campaigns.
What did this nice law abiding guy do in his spare time though? Murdered and raped 40+ women.
Just because someone can act normal doesn't mean they are.
I agree with you EMT!! You should not judge a book by it's cover. This man is a GREAT man. Who made all of you GOD. Something terrible went wrong in his mind. I know David Crespi personally and you have no idea what you are talking about.
Posted by: Too Judgmental at
February 7, 2006 12:01 PM
Death Penalty
Abortion as a contraceptive method
No Homosexual Civil Marriage
do you still want to burn "the witches"?
The man is being punished by society,and above all by himself and GOD. There are many things we still don't understand about our body. Why do you people react to news like these in such a negative and insulting way? Is there a cure for cancer? I am sure David Crespi was as normal and as "abnormal" as everyone os us is. Never say never.
Posted by: ladybird at
February 9, 2006 01:16 AM
Some will view this as what can happen to a decent individual who went insane from a lack of sleep mixed with depression. Others will view it as proof that demonic activity exists. Still, others will pick something else. I'm going to go with the notion that a decent man, under the tragic consequences of a lack of sleep with depression, fell prey to demonic forces (much like Andrea Yates), and, he will now suffer the consequences. But, I have hope also, that, someday, when this veil of tears and confusion that we're all forced to walk through in life is finally lifted, he will be reunited with those beautiful little girls again, and, I think then that there will be forgiveness and love between them. That is my hope and prayer.
Posted by: Bruce Ramsey at
February 11, 2006 03:41 PM
To the posted Crespi supporters. My opinion is.. the guy should go down hard. He might have been nice to you and a great guy and just all around fantastic..but there is something missing here which I think should be mentioned in case you forgot why hes in jail. He murdered his children! Those two little girls suffered a TERRIBLE death at the hands of their own father..why the rage over comments about him? What about those kids? Do you honestly believe that anything he has done up to the murdering of his children really means anything now? And please dont use God as the ultimate way to scare off comments. I believe in God also and I believe HE never meant for fathers to destroy the trust of the children or to inflict such terror and violence on them. They were babies and I am sickened by this. My question is why arent you? Where is your compassion for those girls? Depression or not..Crespi should have taken the high road and got out of that home long before he went completely off the edge. He deserves the harshest sentence they have with no leniency. By my count those little girls were robbed of their entire lives... thats 60+ years or more. And think about all that those little girls went through while Crespi was butchering them to death..think how scared they must have been while their father was killing them and then tell me and everyone else how wonderful this guy is. Give me a break already. Hang him high.
Posted by: mitsy at
February 13, 2006 04:43 PM
I do not support David Crespi in any way. However, I do believe that he was a good man before things went awry. But that does not mean that the acts that he committed were right and should be overlooked as an "medical accident." The last thing he deserves is to die. To be offered salvation is the last thing that this man deserves. Martin Luter said that belief in God creates salvation, not good acts, which is why he protested against the indulgence box. I believe that he should spend the rest of his life begging God for forgiveness for murdering the two daughters that he helped to create. In Kite Runner, the author's father says that stealing is the worst crime. Whether it was to steal a life, or steal an article of clothing from a store, it is stealing. To steal the lives of two young girls, and to make one twin watch while he butchered the other, is the worst type of murder.
Posted by: Erin at
March 9, 2006 08:59 PM
These little girls were from my hometown. Sorry for the family and the mother. How could someone be so psycho. Blessed with two twin girls and he messes it all up. We will miss you Tessara and Samantha!
Also no one knows anything but the immediate family even family that lives close doesn't know what the man and his wife know. People lie a lot and people are fake. I don't care if I snap and have a nervous breakdown my son will never be harmed by me. What a crappy excuse for murder. "Well I was a good man before everything" I say too freakin bad not anymore.....
Posted by: Jamie at
June 19, 2006 02:00 PM
I don't know...I just don't know...I suffer from anxiety and depression and I can tell you beyond the shadow of a doubt that I would NEVER bring harm to anyone much less my own precious children. I do, however feel for the guy that he has a serious hate following now but at the same time I have to ask well does he REALLY deserve it. I just can't imagine killing my own children, who are adopted, for ANY reason so how can he just snap and kill his own flesh and blood? I don't understand what this world is coming to...
Posted by: umh umh umh at
August 20, 2006 10:02 AM
It's understandable to hear such anger and hatred toward someone who committed such a horrible act. I have no explanation for why it happened -- no one ever will. But I have known David my whole life. He was a wonderful person and loving father. If you knew him, you would not feel that he is evil. You would know that something went terribly wrong; he must have been living with demons most of us will never experience. We grieve for his children and family. In July he plead guilty. He will remain in prison the rest of his life.
Posted by: CLR at
October 4, 2006 05:22 PM
All I can say is why? I was just watching the Oprah show...David, you don;t show any remorse. Neither does your wife...That is terrible...I don't care how depressed you are...You are a sick person and you should have gotten the death penalty
Posted by: Melissa at
November 14, 2006 10:30 AM
ok im watching oprah right now... and i agree with mellisa.... you and your wife did not even shed a tear about it... if that was my daughters that was killed i would ball my eyes out just thinking about it... you and your wife seem so calm about it and this is NOTHING to be calm about... you murdered your two 5 year old daughters... they had a whole life ahead of them... they were beautiful girls and they could have gone far... but you screwed that all up... really i think your wife should have left u and u should have been given the death penelty... you are a sick and twisted man... and i am on antidepressents and i am mentally ill... and i understand it effects people in different ways yes... but i would never i mean NEVER kill my daughters that is just wrong and you should burn in hell for this... i really am a good person and i wish no harm on anyone... but you are a horrible man and deserve the worst punishment anyone can be given.
Posted by: amanda at
November 14, 2006 04:28 PM
Everyone speaks to the couple as if they were in a normal mental state.
Oprah is pushing the "you made a choice" view to David. If he was mentally ill there was no choice.
Except for the fact that he only killed the two children this story closely parallels Mark O Barton, the day trader shooter in Atlanta, 1999.
Barton too had episodes of deep depression.
Was Crespi exposed to Subliminal Distraction? There is no information that he was. But the pattern is similar to others where there is evidence of exposure.
Posted by: L K Tucker at
November 14, 2006 04:35 PM
I am watching the Oprah show right now and seeing that David wasnt crying or nothing that he didnt even feel bad about killing his twin daughters. I dont know how anybody could kill their own children. If he knew that he was that sick he should have told the truth about thinking on killing his family. He deserves to die himself.
Posted by: Erica at
November 14, 2006 04:37 PM
Reading these comments has reinforced to me how little we know about mental illness and how ignorant society is to people who suffer from a mental health illness. The fact that this man suffers from depression does not act as an excuse for this horrible act. Murder is wrong, and these two little girls where taken from their lives in a brutal and vicious ways. But by labelling people as 'monsters' who suffer from an illness that the general public will never understand does not help this issue. This attitude keeps people who are suffering from this illness from getting help or fully disclosing what they are expereincing as they are afraid of this negative reaction.
Yes, the majority of people who suffer from depression do not murder their children. But there are those who become so overwhlemed that they dissaccosiate from their feelings and expereinces. the indvidual who suffers from chronice and deep depression does not have the same thought patterns as those who are not depressed. We do not know enough about this illness and the extent to which it effects the individual.
If you have never been in that dark place how dare you judge that peron. One of the main reasons this man did not disclose the extent of his mental health struggles is because he was afarid of the stigma this would bring him.
I have worked for the past two years with mothers and fathers who struggle with their mental health. It is a dark struggle. No, mental health is not an excuse for murder. I don't think anyone would argue that. What we need to learn more of is how mental health struggles effect the indvidual to learn how to prevent this type of tragedy from happenning. By labelling these people as 'evil' or 'monsters' does not accomplish this, it pushes these people further away from social supports and prevents them from getting the help that they need.
Posted by: Kate at
November 14, 2006 04:41 PM
I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU COULD HAVE LEFT YOUR CHILDREN WITH SOMEONE THAT WAS SICK(MENTALLY)
14 YEARS AGO I WAS STABBED 4 TIMES BY MY HUSBAND BUT I SAVED MY KIDS.... I NEVER LEFT THEM AONE WITH HIM, I WOULD HAVE RATHER BEEN HURT THAN THEM.
Posted by: mary at
November 14, 2006 04:43 PM
Oprah asked questions that maybe his wife should have asked David. David was emotionless during the interview as though he was talking about spanking his kids, or neglecting his kids. He did not appear to be a father that is internally grieving the fact that he murdered his innocent little girls, and knowing that they will never ever be here to enjoy their lives.
It's so amazing that he didn't attempt to murder his children by his first marriage (I'm sure that they stayed home sick at some point in time). He chose to murder two five year olds who he knew couldn't defend themselves against him. My theory is that he probably was sexually abusing them--and maybe murdered them to cover up his "truly dark" secret.
Depression can cause a lot of emotions, but parents who could brutally murder their children surely don't love them, and feel the need to rid themselves of their "burden." I can understand forgiveness, but constant visitation and love for someone who took away something that can never be replaced is beyond belief. I think the mother knows a lot more than she is letting on to. I don't know of a mother who would go for a haircut and leave two sick children at home. Most mothers feel that no one can take care of their own sick children better than they can.
Posted by: July Girl at
November 14, 2006 04:57 PM
He should have just killed himself. Of course the wife never answered that question when Oprah asked.. I think the wife prefers her daughters dead than her precious husband.. She wasn't mad at him for 2 seconds?? Her first thought after she finds out her husband killed her 2 daughters is that she needs to see him to let him know he has support? She is sick.
Posted by: Lacey at
November 14, 2006 05:48 PM
There is no way that we can judge either David or Kim as we are not them. We can only feel sympathy for the girls.
No one knows how we would react in their situation, especially Kim's. You might say that you would hate him, divorce him, have any number of thoughts, but the fact is, she is a different person from every single one of us and we have no way of knowing what we would do unless the same series of events happened to us.
Let's save our judgements for ourselves.
Posted by: Kelly at
November 14, 2006 06:35 PM
I agree with the poster that said david crespi showed no remorse and neither did his wife. It sounded like his wife preferred that her husband live over her own children, But what really boggles my mind is that david admitted to wanted to kill not only his kids but his WIFE and I also read an article where he admitted to wanting to kill his parents and run over innocent pedestrians with his car how sick is that!!! I'm sorry there is no excuse for what he did he knew he was having reoccuring feelings of killing his children but he decided it was better to kill him than tell someone so they could still be alive today...now justify that! If anyone saw the interview on oprah with this sick-o she asked why he didnt kill himself he responded that he promised his wife that he wouldnt hurt himself, now how selfish is that, now had david said "I told my counselor and other authorities that could have help that I wanted to hurt my kids and they did nothing to stop me now that is a totally different situation but this man took out his own insecurities and depression out on his innocent children and I think he should suffer the same fate.
Posted by: wlee at
November 16, 2006 02:19 PM
kim's crespi's attitude is more like her husband killed the family dog and not her precious children, and I do agree with "julie girl" who says she believes there is more going on with the situation than just depression and that the story is being covered up.
Posted by: wlee at
November 16, 2006 03:34 PM
Yeah I agree, it seems that Kim doesn't even care that 2 of her daughters were dead. She probably knew David was gonna do it so she made it a point to leave him home alone with him that day.
Posted by: Lacey at
November 18, 2006 09:31 AM
a few things we need to keep in mind:
1. Depression is a chemical imbalance. it is a disease, not a character flaw. There is still much about the brain we do not know.
2. Changes in medication can bring about drastic changes in behavior.
I know this from research and experience. I changed medication one time about a year ago, and was convinced for a week that the Russian mob was after me.
I've lived with chronic depression ever since I can remember, and I'm a successful businesswoman. I've also been an abusive person. It can happen to anyone.
I take neither side, but wish only to clear up the facts around depression and psychopharmaceuticals. They're good, but need to be closely monitored, and studied further.
What happened was terrible, but we can't judge the person on the limited facts here. Not saying he's guilty. Not saying he's not guilty.
Posted by: awesome at
December 11, 2007 01:47 PM
This is ridiculous! The bottom line is he wasn't crazy enough to hurt himself. He admits that after he killed the girls he was afraid he was going to hurt himself and THEN he called 911. (so he wouldn't hurt himself) nice. And his wife should be arrested also, she had been telling his Dr's that she was afraid of him, but yet she left her kids with him? Give me a BREAK! they should both get the chair
Posted by: rp at
March 28, 2008 11:32 PM
Kim was and is a very religious person, and for you to say she deserves the chair is not only inconsiderate but ignorant. had you (or anyone else who claims she had some knowledge of something going on) gone to the funeral or spent time with her after they died, you would have seen how devastated and sad she was and still is. she loved her two little angels and would do anything to have them back. BUT she is religious and know her babies are in a better place, and a safer place and know she will again see them one day.
Posted by: you dont know at
April 2, 2008 08:48 PM
I find it incredibly frightening that some people are acting like this is common symptom of depression. People are like 'give the guy a break, he was depressed. Haven't you ever been in that dark place?'. Please, please, please stop acting like stabbing little children to death is something a lot of people think of doing. It's the stuff of nightmares. To think of what those girls went through, especially the second one when she realized what was happening to her sister.
I'm sorry, but whether or not someone is excused from a crime for being depressed, let's not act like this is something that should be identified with.
By the way, I have been on anti-depression medication. My doctor never told me that killing children is a typical side-effect.