William M. Parente (July 20, 1949 – April 20, 2009) was a New York real estate attorney who came into the spotlight following the murders of his wife and two daughters and his suicide.
[5] At his Manhattan office on the Avenue of the Americas, fellow attorneys viewed Parente as a hardworking family man.
After becoming a member of the New York bar, Parente joined a Wall Street law partnership, moving into a private practice in 1988 after discovering his wife was pregnant with their first child.
"He essentially worked as a bank," reported a friend, making comparatively high-risk loans to projects pending permit approval.
Stephanie, a speech-language pathology major,[10] was believed to have been killed later on Sunday after she had left the Loyola campus for a visit from her family that had surprised her.
Hotel staff noticed that the Parentes did not check out on Monday, and there was concern from Loyola College about Stephanie not showing up that day.
[13][14] According to the information learned in the financial investigation, $245,000 in checks Parente had written to investors had bounced,[15] leading to complaints to the New York attorney general's office.
[19] The two events, having been in such close chronological and geographic proximity, highlighted in the media the topic of familicide and suicide resulting from economic troubles.