A grieving father has revealed the moment he discovered the bodies of his daughter and two grandchildren after they were the victims of a murder-suicide committed by his son-in-law.
Shocking reports earlier this week detailed how the Koch family, of Nebraska, were found dead on the day of their eldest son’s high school graduation. Jeremy Koch, 42, is believed to be responsible for the murder-suicide, with sources claiming that he had a long and troubled history with mental health.
Dawson County Sheriff’s Office paid call at the Koch family home at around 9:45 a.m. on May 10. There they found the bodies of Jeremy, his wife, Bailey Koch, 41, and the couple’s two sons, Hudson, 18, and Asher, 16.
The family’s relatives have said that Jeremy’s own mental health issues date back to at least 2009 and included multiple suicide attempts.
Bailey’s father, Lane Kugler, wrote in an open letter on social media that he discovered the bodies of his daughter, grandsons, and son-in-law on Saturday morning.
“What I saw will haunt me for the rest of my life,” he wrote, adding that he’s “so angry” over the alleged murder-suicide and the failed attempts to help Jeremy.
“Jeremy had been fighting mental illness for many, many years,” Kugler continued. “His depression had turned into psychosis. It was not Jeremy who committed this horrific act. It was a sick mind.”
He added: “Bailey fought so hard to help him and she and her sons lived in fear of the possibility of losing her husband and their father to mental illness for many years. They never knew when he would be in a manic state (super high) or horribly depressed (super low), unable to function normally.
“Bailey fought so hard to bring attention to those who needed help. She was a huge advocate for mental health. She spent countless hours on their Facebook page, Anchoring Hope for Mental Health: Jeremy & Bailey Koch.”
Just days before the murder-suicide that has made headline news around the world, Bailey made a desperate plea online, asking for others to join in helping her husband. Earlier this month she started a GoFundMe page, writing: “May is mental health awareness month, so here we are…making you aware.”
As recently as May 3, Bailey wrote that her husband had survived no less than four suicide attempts, while he was undergoing constant treatment to aid his mental health.
Meanwhile, in March 2025, she said she woke to her husband standing over her with a knife, saying: “Something is wrong.” On that occasion, she was able to de-escalate the situation and convince him to seek help.
On May 8, Jeremy was released from inpatient care at a hospital after being diagnosed with severe dehydration and malnutrition on May 3.
In a social media post on her and her husband’s Facebook page, Bailey celebrated the fact that Jeremy would be home in time for the high school graduation of their eldest son, Hudson.
Tragically, police were dispatched to the family home not long after, only to discover Bailey, along with her two sons, fatally stabbed.
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