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Heartbreak In a Small Town

Originally posted Thursday October 05, 2006 12:00 PM EDT

"They seem closed," says Dwilyn Beiler, a Mennonite neighbor. "But to those who know them, they're very open and friendly." Photo by: John Makely / AP

As far as anyone could tell, he had no grudge against the Amish. One Amish merchant recalls that Roberts often came into his store with his children. "He was a nice guy, very nice," says the man. "He never said no when the kids would ask him for something." He was, in fact, to all outward appearances a doting father who generally was the one to pick up his children at the school bus stop in the afternoon. "He would play ball with the kids in the yard," says neighbor Mary Miller. "It seemed like he was an active participant as a father."

In the weeks leading up to the killing, there had been a pronounced change in Roberts's demeanor. His coworkers told police Roberts had become more reserved, as if he were brooding. Then, in the days just before the murders, he suddenly seemed relaxed and at peace. Said state police commissioner Miller: "A few days before the shooting, a weight was lifted." On the morning of the attack he took the unusual step of seeing his two older children off at the bus. Paula Derby was also there for her daughter and witnessed a telling scene. As the Roberts kids started to climb on the bus he suddenly called them back. "He knelt down and gave them each a big hug," recalls Derby, "and said, 'Remember Daddy loves you.' Then they got back on the bus."

Given the timing, several experts speculate that a school shooting in Colorado the week before might have played a role in stirring Roberts to action. "I suspect he had gone through his plans in his mind many times," says school-violence expert Jared Lewis, "and all it took was the shooting in Colorado to push him over the edge."