New details have emerged in the brutal 2011 Christmas day attack that shook the Grapevine, Texas, community after a father dressed as Santa gunned down his entire family over reported financial struggles and a drift from his wife and children.
Police believe 56-year-old Aziz Yazdanpanah was dressed up as Santa Claus when he fatally shot his wife, their two teenage children and three other family members inside an apartment in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Grapevine at a Christmas party nearly 10 years ago.
RANDOM SPREE OF CHRISTMAS ‘JOY KILLINGS’ STILL HAUNTS VICTIMS’ FAMILY 30 YEARS LATER
A friend of the family told Fox Nation host Nancy Grace this week that Yazdanpanah’s house had entered into foreclosure prior to the incident, which came shortly after he separated from his wife.
Yazdanpanah’s wife “didn’t really want to make him angry” with the separation, her friend recalled in Fox Nation’s “Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. “So she just with the help of her sister, she decided to just buy the basic things for her apartment. She was a very quiet, very super kind lady. She was a peacemaker. She just didn’t want anything happen to her kids, her family. She was a really, a wonderful mom and always protecting her kids.”
But, the friend explained, “When he saw her coming out of this marriage, even though he’s not working, he’s hiring prostitutes by selling their rugs and their furniture, he can’t stand that.”
Grapevine police Sgt. Robert Eberling said police believe that after Yazdanpanah shot his six family members, he dialed 911 and then shot himself. A man can be heard yelling: “Help, help, I am shooting people,” in a 911 recording released at the time.
The incident left a permanent scar on the community of about 50,000 people, some 20 miles northwest of downtown Dallas.
“When Christmastime comes, it’s hard for me to celebrate because I just think about this family,” a resident told Grace.
For more details and a closer look at some of the most brutal holiday crimes, join Fox Nation and watch “Crime Series: Grapevine Christmas Massacre” available today.
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