MOTIVE

Custody Battle at Center of Triple Murder-Suicide in NYC

A father fatally shot his young son, ex-wife, and current wife before killing himself, cops said.

The father behind a triple murder-suicide in New York City Monday was “locked in a custody battle” with his Dutch ex-wife, Reuters reports. James Shields, 39—who fatally shot his ex-wife, current wife, and 6-year-old son before killing himself—wanted greater custody of his child, who lived with his mother in The Netherlands, according to police. In April, he created a GoFundMe campaign titled “Child Kidnapping” that requested money for his custody battle. “My beautiful son is 6 years old and my ex wife lives in the Netherlands. We were married and because she couldn’t find work as an artist ran back home to Holland after she was pregnant with my son devastating me,” Shields wrote. The father also claimed that the custody battle was straining his second marriage. Police found all four family members dead at Shields’ Queens home on Monday. Shields’ father told reporters on Tuesday that his son was a “good man,” and his grandson was a “a beautiful boy.”