An Oklahoma couple considered “primary suspects” in last week's killings of their six children faced growing financial pressures and the husband experienced recurring pain from a workplace head injury, according to family members.
Oklahoma House Fire-8 Dead From left, Brian Anthony Nelson II, Kurgan Nelson, Ragnar Nelson, Brantley Nelson and Vegeta Nelson are seen in a framed photograph in their grandparents apartment in Tulsa, Okla., on Friday, Oct. 28, 2022. All six children perished Thursday in what Broken Arrow Police suspect was a murder-suicide by their parents, Brian and Brittney Nelson. (Andrea Eger/Tulsa World via AP)
Andrea Eger/Tulsa World via AP
Oklahoma House Fire-8 Dead Danny Nelson and his wife Marilyn Nelson identify the five oldest of their six Broken Arrow grandchildren in a framed photograph at their home in Tulsa, Okla., on Friday, Oct. 28, 2022. The Nelsons' son and daughter-in-law Brian and Brittney Nelson, are the prime suspects in what local police suspect was a murder-suicide that occurred Thursday, killing all six children. (Andrea Eger/Tulsa World via AP)
Andrea Eger/Tulsa World via AP
Oklahoma House Fire 8 Dead A room in the back of a house on South Hickory Avenue is seen where eight people died in an apparent murder-suicide involving two adults and six children, Friday, Oct. 28, 2022, in Broken Arrow, Okla. Emergency personnel responded to the house Thursday for a reported fire. The children ranged in age from 1 to 13 years-old. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)
Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP
Oklahoma House Fire 8 Dead A basketball goal stands on the street in front of the house in the 400 block of South Hickory Avenue where eight people died in an apparent murder-suicide involving two adults and six children, Friday, Oct. 28, 2022, in Broken Arrow, Okla. Emergency personnel responded to the house Thursday for a reported fire. The children ranged in age from 1 to 13 years-old. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)
Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP
Oklahoma House Fire 8 Dead Broken Arrow Fire Chief Jeremy Moore, at podium, and BA Police Chief Brandon Berryhill, left, address the media in Broken Arrow, Okla., Friday, Oct. 28, 2022. Police say they've found eight people dead in a burning house in Oklahoma in what they are investigating as a homicide case. (Stephen Pingry/Tulsa World via AP)
BROKEN ARROW, Okla. (AP) — An Oklahoma couple considered “primary suspects” in last week’s killings of their six children faced growing financial pressures and the husband experienced recurring pain from a workplace head injury, family members say.
Eight people were found dead Thursday in a burning home in a Tulsa-area suburb in what authorities are investigating as a murder-suicide. The Broken Arrow Police Department on Sunday identified the two adults as Brian and Brittney Nelson but provided no new information on whether both adults were involved in the killings of the children, who ranged in age from 1 to 13.
Brian Nelson’s parents, Danny and Marilyn Nelson, told the Tulsa World that their son had asked if they could babysit their grandchildren at 5 p.m. Thursday, the day of the fire.
“Five came and went. Then it was 6. I texted them — no responses,” Danny Nelson said. “I turned on the 6 o’clock news, and they said there had been a fire near Hickory and Galveston in Broken Arrow. That’s where my son lives.”
Police have not released the names of the children who died but the Nelsons identified them as grandson Brian II, age 13; granddaughter Brantley, 9; grandsons Vegeta, 7, Ragnar, 5, and Kurgan, 2; and granddaughter Britannica, 1.
All six children were found dead in a burning back bedroom and the two adults were found in the front of the home. Authorities said causes of death were still pending but they don’t believe anyone died from the fire.
Brian and Brittney Nelson had filed for bankruptcy in 2020, listing $8,803 in assets versus nearly $138,000 in liabilities, most of which was unpaid student loans, the newspaper reported. Both indicated they were unemployed at the time, according to the filing said.
The bankruptcy filing also listed nine guns as assets.
Years ago, Brian Nelson had suffered a concussion while stocking dairy refrigerators at a large retail chain and had been plagued by severe headaches ever since, his parents said.
“I want people to know that at one time he had all his brain together,” Marilyn Nelson said. “I just don’t understand why they did what they did. I just don’t understand why he ended up in that situation. I talk to God all the time — and I just don’t understand.”
