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Doctor who killed sons, self accused wife of cheating
By JIM SUHR
Associated Press
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GODFREY -- A doctor who threw his two young sons over a Florida hotel's balcony before plunging to his death had accused his wife of having an affair with the family's gardener, according to a newly unsealed search warrant by Illinois investigators.

Trying to unravel the May 27 tragedy involving Edward Van Dyk and his two children, Madison County authorities searched the Van Dyk home in Godfrey after being told by Florida investigators that the radiation oncologist's widow had told them her husband had suspected she was unfaithful.

Items seized from the home included a computer and related disks, a handwritten note, a digital and video camera, and an anniversary card, according to the search warrant and related court documents unsealed Friday.

Authorities have said they hoped the computer might reveal clues to why the 43-year-old man threw his sons - Carl, 8, and Spencer, 4 - off a 15th-floor balcony at the posh Loews Hotel in Miami Beach, Fla., and then jumped. Van Dyk left no suicide note, authorities have said.

The victims, along with Van Dyk's wife, Qinuo, were vacationing, celebrating the couple's 10th wedding anniversary, authorities said.

Qinuo Van Dyk told police that while the couple had marital problems over the previous six months, their relationship had improved, according to Miami Beach police.

Miami Beach police did not return messages seeking comment Monday.

Edward Van Dyk did not suffer from mental illness and was not on any sort of medication, his father has said. He speculated that his son might have been temporarily insane when he killed his sons and himself.

No one came to the door at the Van Dyk residence Monday, and the family had no listed phone number. The Associated Press left a written request for comment.

In applying for the search warrant hours after the tragedy, Madison County sheriff's Detective Thomas Cromer wrote that authorities sought to seize from the Van Dyk home any computer equipment and documents tied to the Van Dyks' marital or financial status, including any wills.

In an affidavit, Cromer wrote that Miami Beach police Detective Ozzy Ramos told him "Qinuo Van Dyk advised of marital problems consisting of Edward accusing Qinuo of having an affair with their gardener." The court papers did not specify when Edward Van Dyk lodged the accusation.

Cromer added that Ramos said Qinuo Van Dyk and the couple's two sons arrived in Miami Beach three days before Edward Van Dyk joined the family there the day before the tragedies, though Ramos' investigation found it was unusual for the family to travel separately.

Ramos said Qinuo Van Dyk initially agreed to have the family's home searched but later withdrew that consent, Cromer's affidavit read.

Qinuo Van Dyk called 911 call after hearing one of her sons screaming from an adjacent room of the hotel while she was in a bathroom. She entered the room and saw her husband throwing himself over a balcony, authorities have said.

According to recordings of that 911 call released Friday, Qinuo Van Dyk is heard asking a dispatcher, "Why did he do that to me? Why did he do this?"

The emergency operator had trouble understanding the woman because the woman was crying and screaming during the nearly four-minute call. An unidentified man also can be heard on the 911 tape calling for additional assistance.

Edward Van Dyk was a radiation oncologist at Alton Memorial Hospital and headed its cancer center.

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Reader comments on this story - 9 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

good person wrote on Jul 23, 2006 1:42 AM:

" please leave the deceased in peace and leave the wife alone. She has suffered more than any person can imagine, her loss is unbearable. What are you going to say if you lost your children? "

Reaching wrote on Jul 17, 2006 5:56 AM:

" for the ultimate pain-killing the kids. Somehow idiots think the 'that will teach you!' analogy makes sense to them. Just gives you and example how much a broken heart/vow makes people lash out. This was he punishment for her beyond words. Men can be so callous when it comes to paybacks...and using human lives as the currency. "see what you made me do!" said VanDyk. "

hmmm wrote on Jul 9, 2006 7:40 PM:

" Must have been some real issues coz all she kept saying was, " Why he doing this to me". Its all about her, but if ur going be a fool and kill urself. Don't take out helpless children with you "

The Big Picture wrote on Jun 28, 2006 10:16 AM:

" "Qinuo Van Dyk called 911 call after hearing one of her sons screaming from an adjacent room of the hotel while she was in a bathroom." Odd.. as the Mom.. wouldnt you just go see why the kid was screaming? thats what "moms' do.. right? Something here is FISHY.. 911 from the bathroom? Maybe she PUSH all of them.. to keep the gardener trimming the bush. "

even if.... wrote on Jun 27, 2006 1:26 PM:

" the dr. and his wife were having problems, that is no reason to have also killed his own children before he took his own life.... "

what you don't know... wrote on Jun 27, 2006 1:17 PM:

" This man's father said he had no "history of mental illness"... Well, NOW he does! What the public seldom knows, nor does the media capture, is THE WHOLE STORY. Somebody, somewhere, had to have a clue this man could go off that edge...too bad he chose to take his innocent sons with him. "

TO: SAMMY wrote on Jun 27, 2006 10:45 AM:

" You summed it up, i am speechless too. "

Those three days apart... wrote on Jun 27, 2006 9:46 AM:

" Has anyone bothered looking for this gardener? Maybe the former Dr Van Dyk "took care" of this threat to his happy home, while wife and sons were vacationing. I'm wondering if this gardener is accounted for or if he's going to float to the surface in the near or distant future. "

Sammy wrote on Jun 26, 2006 10:21 PM:

" Beyond words...... "
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