A man who had become depressed about his financial problems has shot dead his wife, three children and mother-in-law before turning his gun on himself in the family's expensive home in a gated community in a Los Angeles suburb.

The body of Karthik Rajaram, 45, was found still gripping a handgun that had been bought three weeks ago, on September 16, say police. He had left two suicide notes, one for police and one for friends and relatives, and a will.

A coroner's officer said that the victims had each been shot multiple times. The deaths appear to have occurred some time after Saturday evening.

Police found the scene of carnage at the family home yesterday after the wife failed to turn up at a neighbour’s house on Monday morning to go to work as a finance clerk at a pharmacy, according Deputy Chief of Police Michel Moore.

“The source of it appears to be a financial state, a crisis if you will, that this man became embroiled in that has unfolded over the past weeks,” said Mr Moore.

The man wrote in his suicide letter that he felt he had two options - to kill only himself, or to kill himself and his family. He had decided the second option was more honourable, said Mr Moore.

Officers found the mother-in-law, Indra Ramasesham, 69, dead in bed on the first floor. Upstairs, they found a 19-year-old son, Krishna Rajaram, dead in bed in the master bedroom.

The gunman’s 39-year-old wife, Subasri, was found in another room, also apparently shot while sleeping. In an adjoining room, a 12-year-old son, Ganesha, was dead on the floor, and his 7-year-old brother, Arjuna, was dead in bed. Their father’s body also was found there with a handgun “in his grasp”, Moore said.

Ed Winter, the coroner's officer, said that the mother-in-law was an Indian national, but he did not know the status of the others. “I think they are legal residents,” he said.

Police said that Rajaram had a master’s of business administration in finance, and had formerly worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers and Sony Pictures, but had been unemployed for several months, Moore said.

Moore did not specify what financial trouble the man had been in. He noted that the family did not own the home.

A spokesman for PricewaterhouseCoopers said that Rajaram last worked for the company in 1999, but declined to offer any further information about him, given the time that passed since Rajaram’s employment there.

A spokesman for Sony Pictures Entertainment did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Investigators have determined that Rajaram was at least the part-owner of a financial holding company. He is listed as a co-manager of a corporation called SKGL LLC, which is incorporated in Nevada, according to state records. He formed the corporation for his family’s assets, said Christopher R. Grobl, a Las Vegas attorney.

He did not know what sort of business SKGL was or why Rajaram set up the company in the state Nevada. The business was incorporated in 1999 and renewed its annual licence in December 2007.

Krishna Rajaram was enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles, as a junior majoring in business economics, spokesman Phil Hampton said.

The gated community, called Sorrento Pointe, is among several developments along curving lanes and cul-de-sacs set on the foothills of the Santa Susana Mountains in Porter Ranch, about 23 miles (37 kilometers) northwest of central Los Angeles.

“It’s very quiet here,” said Ryan Ransdell, who lives across the street. “That’s what’s so shocking about this... You’d think someone would have heard it. You can hear a car door shut at night.”

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