/ Source: The Associated Press
Authorities say a man is being held for investigation of first-degree murder after his estranged wife and his stepdaughter were killed in an ax attack.
Pierce County Sheriff's Department spokesman Ed Troyer said deputies were sent to a home in the Tacoma suburb of Orting late Friday after a man called police to report that he had attacked his wife and stepdaughter.
They found the man's 52-year-old wife dead and his 33-year-old stepdaughter injured. The stepdaughter died later at a hospital.
Troyer said deputies suspect the man attacked the victims and then painted messages on the side of a shed, including "Living in hotel. Money running out. Nowhere to live."
Court records showed the wife had filed for divorce in January.