Minde Reinhart, 42, had raced through darkness to the luxury home in a gated community in Gainesville where she lived until recently with her husband and sons. Her depressed husband who separated from his wife and recently lost his high-paying executive job had bizarrely published 64 photos from their wedding 19 years ago to his Facebook page at 5 a.m.
Texts to Minde around the same time which ended abruptly made clear he blamed her for their pending divorce.
“You should have put your family first,” he wrote. “Now it s too late. You re so selfish. You re going to live with this the rest of your life.
Dad suspected of killing sons, self; mirrors brother s case
Dad suspected of killing sons, self; mirrors brother s case
THOMAS J. WEBER of Fresh Take Florida news service, Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida
May 6, 2021
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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) The father suspected of killing his two young sons and himself this week inside a burning luxury vacation home in western Florida is the younger brother of a convicted murderer who also tried to take his own life in a similarly violent household attack seven years ago.
Paul Otto Reinhart, 46, was a successful executive of a medical device sales firm and living in a $900,000 home in Gainesville until his world began unraveling: He lost his job as president of his namesake company, Reinhart Medical LLC, and he was recently separated from his wife of nearly 20 years, Minde Reinhart, 42.
On the right, Paul O. Reinhart, 46, of Gainesville, Florida, is seen in this selfie he posted to his Facebook account on Sept. 13, 2019. Reinhart is suspected of killing his two young sons and himself on May 4, 2021, in his family s burning vacation home near Suwannee, Florida. On the left is Reinhart s older brother, Erick Von Reinhart, 49, as seen in this undated photograph from the Florida Department of Corrections after he was sent to prison in December 2018. Erick Reinhart pleaded guilty in November 2018 to second-degree murder in Pasco County, Florida, in the stabbing of his ex-wife s new boyfriend. Home/Law and public safety/Eerie Parallels: Man Suspected Of Killing Young Sons And Himself Mirrors Case Of Brother Who Killed Ex-Wife’s Boyfriend Then Attempted Suicide
The Reinharts were family friends with Gators baseball coach Kevin O Sullivan
The children were Brody, 11, and Rex, 14, both avid youth baseball players. The family was friends with Florida coach Kevin “Sully” O Sullivan. The University Athletic Association declined immediately to comment.
Back in Gainesville, about 50 miles east of the fire, investigators from the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office were interviewing neighbors in the gated community around the family’s $900,000 home in west Gainesville. Spokeswoman Lt. Kaley Behl said Dixie County authorities had asked for assistance with what it described as a “murder-suicide joint investigation.”
A spokesman for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Jeremy Burns, said the agency would be involved in the investigation and any forensic work.
Home/Fresh Take Florida/Authorities: Father Suspected Of Killing Two Young Sons, Including UF Batboy, Self And Burning Vacation Home
Authorities: Father Suspected Of Killing Two Young Sons, Including UF Batboy, Self And Burning Vacation Home
By Thomas Weber
May 4, 2021
Editor’s note: This story includes descriptions of suicide. If you or someone you know is considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or the Alachua County Crisis Center at 352-264-6789.
A father was suspected of killing his two young sons early Tuesday – including an 11-year-old who was regularly the batboy for the No. 10-ranked University of Florida baseball team – setting on fire his family’s waterfront vacation home in nearby Cross City then killing himself, authorities said.