Story of David Crespi: Father stabs twin daughters to death because HE wanted to die?

By: GREG LACOUR AND FRED KELLY

David Lauren Crespi, a Mecklenburg County man accused of stabbing his twin 5-year-old daughters to death Friday, 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.

Regardless, David Crespi's father -- along with friends, former co-workers and neighbors in the affluent Deerfield Creek neighborhood in southeast Mecklenburg County -- said Saturday he can't imagine why his son would have done what he's accused of doing.

Lauren Crespi said he visited his son in North Carolina for Thanksgiving. The family enjoyed a visit to Old Salem in Winston-Salem, and "there were no signs of trouble."

"I just don't understand why he turned on the children," Lauren Crespi said. "I just don't know what snapped."

David Crespi, 45, remained in the Mecklenburg County jail Saturday, charged with two counts of murder. He's scheduled to make his first appearance in District Court on Monday.

Police arrived at David Crespi's home on Creek Pointe Drive on Friday afternoon, after a dispatcher told them a man had called 911 and said he'd stabbed his twin daughters to death and was about to kill himself.

Officers found David Crespi outside and arrested him. Inside, they found Samantha and Tessara Crespi. Both were pronounced dead at the home.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police declined Saturday to disclose details about the possible motive or weapon used; Sgt. Lee Ann Oehler said she could not comment on what led to the killings. Police wouldn't release the 911 recording, saying it's part of the investigation.

David Crespi's wife, Kimberli, was out getting a haircut when the twins were killed. The three other siblings -- Jessica, 17, Dylan, 14, and Joshua, 9 -- were at school, authorities said.

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.

Neighbors of the Crespis described them as a kind of anchor for their neighborhood, though they'd lived there only about five years. Most of their neighbors had lived there for an even shorter time, and the Crespi children commonly played outside with other children.

"The majority of us don't have family nearby," said a friend and neighbor who didn't want her name used. "So we become each other's family."

On Saturday, a few homes down the street from the Crespis', a group of eight women planned to make dozens of pink ribbons in honor of Samantha and Tessara and distribute them throughout the neighborhood.

The family was active at St. Matthew, where David Crespi served on the church's finance committee, said Monsignor John McSweeney, the pastor. McSweeney said he spent Friday with Kimberli Crespi and the remaining children, and that the shocked congregation would remember Samantha and Tessara during services today.

The shock extended across the country, as friends and former neighbors in the Sacramento area learned the news.

Michael Crowley, who said he's known David Crespi for at least a decade, said his friend's recent Christmas card and letter led him to believe everything was going well.

"If you had to interview the model family, they would be who I would think of," Crowley said. "I can't tell you how inconceivable this is."

David Crespi comes from a family of high achievers. He, his brother and father all hold degrees from California State University, Sacramento, where David Crespi graduated in 1983 with an accounting degree. His brother, John, is an agricultural economics professor at Kansas State University.

David Crespi was a straight-A student in college, his father said, and passed the certified public accountant's exam as a senior in college.

He 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.

Richard Slaymaker of Gold River, Calif., worked with David Crespi for about three years in the early 1990s, when the two were finance managers for the housing agency. Slaymaker said his former colleague isn't just a skilled professional but a respected and well-liked man.

"He was dedicated but had the ability to make everyone like him," he said. "He was such an outstanding person; I knew we wouldn't be able to keep him."

"No matter what kind of problems would come up, he could deal with them. What happened yesterday is so out of the norm, it doesn't make sense." -- Staff writers Franco Ordoñez, Ken garfield and melissa manware contributed.

UPDATE!!

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Samantha and Tessara Crespi, the 5-year-old twins police say were killed by their father, were both stabbed more than a dozen times, according to recently released autopsy results.

David Crespi, 45, was arrested in January at his southeastern Mecklenburg County home and charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

David Crespi is accused of killing his twin daughters, Samantha and Tessara.

The autopsy reports that both girls had cuts on their hands, but detectives have not said whether they were defensive wounds or if the twins were held down when they were stabbed.

Crespi is being held at Raleigh’s Central Prison on suicide watch. Police say he had a history of depression and had attempted suicide on several occasions.

No trial date has been set. Prosecutors have not said whether they will seek the death penalty.

Okay... a couple of things here. First of all: "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", this sounds like a prelude to a defense to me. Let's blame it on the medication!

Also: "No matter what kind of problems would come up, he could deal with them. What happened yesterday is so out of the norm"... Out of the norm? You think? Maybe this will be a supporting witness to the "blame the medication" defense?