Man Suspected in Murder-Suicide Sought Help

A suspect in a murder-suicide that claimed four lives went to a UNC Hospitals walk-in clinic complaining of suicidal depression two weeks before the killings, a newspaper reported Thursday. Documents obtained by the Herald-Sun of Durham showed that Roderick Farb walked out of the UNC clinic May 5 before seeing a psychiatrist. Medical personnel had a sheriff's deputy bring him back the same day for a psychiatric evaluation that led to his involuntary commitment at UNC Hospitals, based on his potential danger to himself or others. Farb was unconditionally released from the hospital May 6, even though a psychiatrist who examined him earlier that day recommended him for involuntary commitment. The psychiatrist said Farb was still mentally ill, a danger to himself, had a gun at home and was in the "midst of marital conflict." The reasons for Farb's release are not immediately apparent in the court documents, except for a form that indicates Farb was "no longer in need in inpatient hospitalization." On Monday, less than two weeks after his release, authorities believe Farb took a gun to the Mebane home of his estranged wife, Erin Farb, fatally shooting her, her 9-year-old daughter Ashley Thomas and Erin Farb's friend David Cooley. Farb then fatally shot himself, according to Orange County sheriff's investigators.