Investors Claim Millions in Losses with Murder-Suicide Lawyer

Federal authorities are investigating the financial dealings of a Manhattan lawyer thought to have killed his wife and two daughters in a Baltimore area hotel late Sunday before using a knife to kill himself.

Lawyer William Parente apparently beat and asphyxiated his wife, Betty, and their daughters, ages 19 and 11, Baltimore County Police told the Baltimore Sun. Police did not say whether the victims were strangled or smothered. The victims were laid on king-sized beds, and there were no signs of a struggle. Parente was found dead in the bathroom where he had apparently bled to death after stabbing himself, according to the New York Times.

The FBI is investigating the financial dealings of Parente, a solo with a tax and estate-planning practice, according to the Times and a separate story in the Baltimore Sun. Queens lawyer Bruce Montague told Newsday that he invested hundreds of thousands of dollars with Parente, but he was unable to get the money back. Montague said Parente promised to repay him $450,000 but the checks bounced a day after the Parentes were found dead.

A colleague of Montague’s, Craig Gardy, told the Times that other Parente investors were contacting the law firm to report losses. In all, investors may have lost more than $20 million, Gardy said.

Another lawyer in Montague’s firm, Joseph Levy, told the Baltimore Sun that one investor complained of a $1.5 million loss, and another alleged a $500,000 loss.

Gardy gave the Times a statement from Montague: “All monies involved were private money that can be replaced. What Mr. Parente did to his family is a great tragedy and unforgivable.”

Stories published Wednesday about the Parentes said they lived in a posh neighborhood of million-dollar homes in Garden City, N.Y. The Parentes attended Catholic church and were regulars at their children’s school functions and sporting events. Neighbor Robert Krener described the Parentes as “a wonderful, loving, spiritual, funny family."