Father Drowns Young Daughters, Hangs Himself

MONTCLAIR, N.J. (AP) -- Authorities in New Jersey are describing the deaths of two young girls and their father as a murder-suicide.<br/><br/>They say the man drowned the girls -- ages five and six --

Friday, June 22nd 2007, 4:11 pm

By: News On 6

MONTCLAIR, N.J. (AP) -- Authorities in New Jersey are describing the deaths of two young girls and their father as a murder-suicide.

They say the man drowned the girls -- ages five and six -- in a bathtub and then hanged himself at his home.

The bodies were found just hours after the girls' mother had dropped them off there for a visit. Police went to the house after the mother became concerned that the man hadn't answered his phone, and nobody answered the door when she knocked.

A state lawmaker who knew the man says this is "so out of character" for him. He says he "was a jovial type guy."