‘Murder-suicide’ left 4 people dead in South Hill home, deputies believe. Victims IDed
The identities of four people who were found dead inside a South Hill home on New Year’s Eve have been released by the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office.
William Vosler, 68, died from a stab wound to the chest and blunt head trauma near the 18900 block of Eastwood Avenue East, the office wrote in a news release.
Eileen Vosler, 66, died from multiple stab wounds to the chest and neck, the release said. The manner of their deaths was listed as homicide.
Shane Vosler, 33, died from a contact gunshot wound to the head, the release said. His manner of death was listed as a suicide.
Sue Bin Lee, 34, died from a contact gunshot wound to the head. Her manner of death was ruled as undetermined.
The Voslers and Bin Lee were from the Puyallup area, the release said.
“The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department did anticipate this was going to be a murder-suicide type of incident,” spokeswoman deputy Carly Cappetto told The News Tribune on Friday.
The Sheriff’s Department determined through evidence that Shane Vosler and his girlfriend, Bin Lee, had killed William and Eileen Vosler during the summer. They then conspired to commit suicide closer to the end of December, Cappetto said.
Cappetto said deputies located William and Eileen Vosler’s bodies in a freezer-refrigerator unit on Dec. 31, and they were in a state of decomposition.
She said it was not uncommon for William and Eileen Vosler to be seen or unheard of for a long period of time.
“This is a really sad case, because the mother and father, I don’t think, were very active in the community and socially,” Cappetto said. “I think they were very comfortable to the environments of their home.”
Evidence showed that prior to their deaths, Shane Vosler and Bin Lee had been living in the Eastwood Avenue home for about six months while the parents’ bodies were in the freezer-fridge unit, she said.
Detectives are continuing to investigate whether Bin Lee’s gunshot wound was self-inflicted. That will be determined based on the angle and direction of travel of the gunshot.
The motive for killing William and Eileen Vosler is currently not known, or why their son and Bin Lee decided to keep them in the freezer.
There had been four welfare checks at the Eastwood Avenue residence, including on Dec. 31 when the bodies were discovered, The News Tribune previously reported. Deputies lacked sufficient legal justification to go inside during the first three checks.
“The first welfare check was Dec. 23, then Dec. 29, Dec. 30 then the finding on Dec. 31,” Cappetto told The News Tribune via email.
During the Dec. 23 welfare check, a neighbor told deputies she had not seen the couple that owned the home, or their son, since August, according to a search warrant reviewed by The News Tribune.
The Dec. 29 welfare check was prompted by a call from an online friend of one of the homeowner’s sons, the story reports. The friend told deputies that the son’s girlfriend made a post on social media Nov. 12, which stated “she was considering suicide with (the son).”
A deputy attempted to make contact at the home that day but got no answer. There was no smell, and the deputy didn’t see anything to make them believe someone was dead inside, the article said.
Pierce County deputies were dispatched to the home for a welfare check on Dec. 31. They were able to enter the home after the son’s friend helped a deputy contact another son. That son said he had not spoken to his father since September.
Deputies found a man and woman dead inside. Two additional bodies were found after deputies obtained a search warrant to go through the rest of the residence, The News Tribune reported.
During the secondary sweep, two notes were found on a leaking kitchen refrigerator that read, ““Time of Death July 24th 5:45 AM” and “Time of death July 24th 3:00 PM,” according to the story.
Deputies described the house as “very messy,” records state.
Two firearms and ammunition were seized by law enforcement. Another note was found on a large refrigerator in an attached garage, the story reports. It had notes on it “indicating something to the effect of ‘Date of Death,’” according to the document. The detective said it had dates on it from earlier in 2024, possibly around July.
Cappetto said on Friday that while she cannot confirm Shane Vosler and Bin Lee’s mental health history, there is evidence this was something they both struggled with. Some evidence includes notes they passed back and forth to each other and witness reports.
There is no outstanding suspect to the homicides because the deaths have been contained to the home.
This story was originally published January 10, 2025 at 1:26 PM.
