William Parente killed his wife and two daughters and then killed himself, Baltimore County Police officials said Wednesday morning. They have scheduled a news conference at 11 a.m.

The four people found dead at the Sheraton Baltimore North Hotel in Towson on Monday afternoon were members of the Parente family  — including  a 19-year-old Loyola College sophomore — of Garden City, N.Y., Baltimore County police said Tuesday morning.

The victims of what police have termed a murder-suicide were identified as William Parente, 59, Betty Parente, 58, Stephanie Parente, 19, and Catherine Parente, 11, said Cpl. Mike Hill. (Newsday is reporting that Williams Parente owed hundreds of thousands.)
 
Stephanie Parente was enrolled as a student at Loyola College and a member of the school's 2007-2008 rowing team. William Parente, a lawyer, and his wife, and other daughter were known to visit Stephanie in Baltimore.

"My understanding is they normally did come down here occasionally to visit her," Hill said.

Stephanie Parente "was well-known and involved student with many friends" at Loyola College, said Courtney Jolley, a spokeswoman for the college.

"This is just very shocking to those of us at Loyola," Jolley said.

The college has scheduled a Mass tonight at the campus' Alumni Chapel in memory of the family, Jolley said.

Hill said that county police are working with New York police on the case and that local police are "just starting to get into this investigation from the motive standpoint." He declined to say if any notes were found at the scene.

Hill said that police have determined that the family had breakfast together Sunday morning. A hotel employee reported seeing family members in the early to mid-afternoon.

The bodies of the Parente family were discovered when hotel staff went to check on the occupants of a 10th-floor hotel room who were expected to check out at noon, said Hill.



Police were called to the hotel in the 900 block of Dulaney Valley Road at 2:56 p.m. on Monday.

"We have an investigation. We don't know what kind of investigation," Hill had said on Monday. "We have four bodies."

Early Monday evening Hill said, "We are still in the preliminary stages of the investigation."

"Is it a homicide of all of them, is it a homicide-suicide, is it just a suicide -- we just don't know," he said.

When asked if the police were searching for suspects, Hill said, "We feel confident with what the investigators have learned -- that this is an isolated incident within that room."

As of about 9 p.m. Monday, detectives and crime scene technicians were still working in the hotel room. Police said the 10th floor had been cleared for the investigation.

Police wrapped up their investigation at the hotel and the bodies were released to the medical examiner Monday night. Hill said that autopsies would be conducted on Tuesday.

Luke Broadwater contributed to this story.

This story has been updated. An earlier version of this story had incorrect information about the victims.

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