Butterfly Meadow To Memorialize Slain Md. Family
MIDDLETOWN, Md. (AP) -- Frederick County officials say volunteers have planted one and a half acres of wildflowers in memory of a Middletown woman and her three young children killed by her husband in 2009.
The county's Parks and Recreation Division says the butterfly meadow at the Catoctin Creek Park and Nature Center will be dedicated in May to Francie Billotti-Wood and her children Chandler, Gavin and Fiona.
Police say Christopher Wood shot his wife and children in their home before taking his own life. Investigators found that he was on antidepressants and had suffered from mental illness for years.
They also found evidence of marital discord and financial problems.
Billotti-Wood's family donated more than $4,000 to the Frederick County Nature Council to create the butterfly meadow.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
