Conn. Wife Pleaded for Life, Daughters' Safety Over Text Message

As Alice Morrin's husband roamed their Vernon, Conn., home, armed with a knife and gun, the mother of two was sending frantic text messages to a friend and placing a call to 911

(ABC News)

'She Wanted to Do it All'

Mealy said Erica and her mother were especially close, best friends, and she enjoyed hiking with both of her daughters. The children, he said, are now with family members.

"What I've heard [is] that one is in denial," he said of the couple's youngest child, "and the other is coping as best she could."

Mealy said he and his sister were close growing up. The two of them were the youngest two siblings, separated from the older four by several years.

There was no limit to her plans, he said.

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"She wanted to do it all," he added.

Mealy said he didn't know James Morrin very well, having moved to Florida while his sister and her family stayed in Connecticut. But the family never saw anything like this coming.

"I didn't know him well enough," he said. "He's a little different."

James Morrin's family also was struggling to make sense of the killing and suicide. His father, also named James Morrin, told ABCNews.com from his Rhode Island home that the family is "very emotional."

"It would be very easy to go into glorious detail about my son's life ... but unfortunately the end was no success," he said, declining further comment. "This is a very tough time for us right now."