Addison police say motive for slayings may never be known

At a time of unimaginable loss, the extended families of Thomas and Elizabeth "Betsy" Mangiantini are working together to plan a joint memorial service for the Addison couple and their two sons.

Details still were being finalized Friday, but a worship service for the Mangiantini family is expected next week at St. Philip the Apostle Catholic Church in Addison.

Rev. Mark Jendrysik, the family's pastor, said prayers were offered for them during Thanksgiving Mass. He spoke of the outpouring of community concern.

"You just listen and let them talk," Rev. Jendrysik said Friday. "Our entire community is very shocked and saddened. The Mangiantinis were a very good family who were active and involved in the community."

Police said Thomas Mangiantini used two guns to open fire on his family early Wednesday in their home before committing suicide.

Officers rushed to the 200 block of South Wisconsin Avenue after his wife, Elizabeth, 46, frantically called 911 about 6:30 a.m. before sounds of gunfire rang in the background.

She suffered a single gunshot wound to the head in the attack, which police said was captured on the 911 call. The couple's two boys - 12-year-old Angelo and Tommy Jr., 8 - were found with fatal head wounds, lying in their beds in a shared upstairs room.

Police suspect the children were asleep when shot because neither had defensive wounds.

Officers discovered Thomas Mangiantini, 48, who died of a single gunshot to the mouth, in an upstairs bedroom. They said one gun was near his side, the other was in a hallway.

Hours later, police located a single-page note written in large handwriting in Thomas Mangiantini's pants pocket.

Addison Chief Timothy Hayden said authorities want to meet with family members next week before disclosing the note's contents. Hayden did say, though, that a "distraught" Mangiantini wrote of his murder-suicide plan.

The note, which was not addressed to a particular person, did not mention financial or marital problems. As relatives and the community search for answers, Hayden said the tragedy may remain unexplained.

"Everyone is looking for a motive," the chief said. "I don't know that the note really will (provide answers). A lot of people are going to draw their own conclusions, but I don't know that it definitely does explain what happened."

The couple married Aug. 17, 1991, in LaGrange Park and lived in the Addison subdivision since 1993, public records showed. There were no prior domestic disturbances in which police were called to the home.

Elizabeth Mangiantini was laid off from her auto manufacturer job last summer; her husband worked in customer service for E&D Web, a Cicero printing company, but is believed to have had his hours cut back. His boss, Christopher Love, was unavailable for comment Friday.

The family was well-known in Addison through school, sports and church activities.

Elizabeth Mangiantini was a local girl who graduated from Addison Trail High School and volunteered in her sons' District 4 schools. Thomas Mangiantini, a Riverside Brookfield High School graduate, coached baseball for about five years in the nonprofit Addison Recreation Club. He was an avid hunter and fisherman.

"They were a model family," said Tom Hundley, a village trustee who coached with Mangiantini and considered him a good friend. "He was a great dad to his kids. She was a great wife and mother. You would have never expected this in a million years. We never saw this coming."

Addison District 4 Superintendent John Langton said officials plan to have a crisis management team available to students when they return Monday from Thanksgiving break. Angelo was an Indian Trail Junior High School sixth-grader. Tommy was in the second grade at Fullerton Elementary School.

"It's going to be so hard to see his empty seat Monday," said Sue Balice, a Fullerton lunch mom who often volunteered with Elizabeth at their children's school. "No one can fathom how someone so good could do this. It's just a really rough time for everyone because they were such a big part of the community."

Many parents whose children attended the boys' schools told them Friday about the tragedy. Another local mother, Stacie Eddy, said the boys' friends are creating a large memory photo board this weekend to be displayed at Fullerton.

"They're sensitive, but tough little boys." Eddy said.

Salerno Funeral Home in Roselle and St. Philip the Apostle in Addison are working together with the family to finalize worship services for next week.