Florida man kills wife and son with crossbow, then slits throat

By Ed Payne, CNN

December 5, 2013 -- Updated 0735 GMT (1535 HKT)

Police investigate after a man killed his wife and son with a crossbow.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Authorities say Pedro Maldonado killed his wife and son with a crossbow
• He then drove 460 milles to Tallahassee in an attempt to kill his other son
• Maldonado later called a friend, admitting to killing two family members
• He took his life in a Lake City hotel room, authorities say

(CNN) -- A South Florida man killed his wife and son with a crossbow, drove 460 miles to try and kill his other son, and then slit his own throat.

The violent, long-distance rampage took Pedro Maldonado Sr. from one end of the state to the other.

While the Broward County Sheriff's Office continues to piece together a time line, detectives believe Maldonado shot and killed his 47-year-old wife, Monica Narvaez-Maldonado, and their 17-year-old son, Pedro Maldonado Jr., with a crossbow in their Weston townhouse sometime on Monday. Weston is located about 13 miles west of Fort Lauderdale.

The sheriff's report says Maldonado, 53, then drove about 460 miles north to Tallahassee in an attempt to kill his older son, José Maldonado, who attends Florida State University.

"His dad did try to shoot him with the same handheld crossbow and the arrow hit Jose's ear," Dani Moschella, a spokeswoman for the sheriff's department, told CNN affiliate WSVN. "Then his father tried to choke him, and José luckily was able to get away."

José Maldonado never reported the attack to police, but it was his father's confession to a friend on Tuesday that set authorities on his trail.

The Broward Sheriff's report says Pedro Maldonado called a friend in Miami and admitted to killing his wife and son. A short time later, authorities found their bodies in the South Florida townhouse.

Later in the day, authorities learned that Maldonado might be in the Lake City area, about 100 miles east of Tallahassee. The Columbia County Sheriff's Office found his SUV at a hotel.

After trying to contact Maldonado for hours, they entered his room and found him dead early Wednesday. He slit his own throat, authorities said.

"I knew them. They were good neighbors. I never heard anything from the house -- no screaming, no fighting, nothing," neighbor Ana Maldonado, who is not related to the family, told WSVN. "Terrible. I don't see why parents have to get the kids involved. If you have a problem, solve it.

"Do what he did far away, by himself, but leave the family alone."

CNN's Carma Hassan contributed to this report.