Investigators Consider Finances In Family Killings

The bodies of Scott and Nicole Westerhuis and their children Kailey, Jaeci, Connor and Michael were found in the burned ruins of their home the morning of September 17. Tony Venhuizen, chief of staff for Gov. Dennis Daugaard, said preliminary results of this year’s audit showed similar issues.

Attorney General Marty Jackley says the investigation of the murder-suicide of the Westerhuis family is continuing, and investigators are looking into a possible financial motivation behind it.

Westerhuis was the business manager for Mid-Central Educational Cooperative in Platte. He also noted that when state departments suspect criminal activity, they inform law enforcement, and there had been no such notification in this instance. “They certainly remain in our thoughts and prayers, as well as the first responders and law enforcement officers that have had to deal with a very hard situation”, Jackley said. “That was not done in this case”, Jackley says.

“We are trusting their work, but as part of this process we are verifying”, he said.

Scott Westerhuis, the man suspected of murdering his wife and four children and then taking his own life, learned hours before his death that the state was not renewing a .3 million contract with his employer.

“We will further release any findings as it may relate to the financial audit information of the $4.3 million contract, if it perhaps played a role-a motive, or otherwise”, Jackley said.

Jackley adds investigators will look into the circumstances surrounding the contract. Jackley says Westerhuis was notified Wednesday about the contract loss. “It’s going to be a thorough and due diligent job of making sure we let other family members and the Platte Community and South Dakota know as much as we can about what happened in Platte”, Jackley said.

Investigators are running tests to determine if an accelerant fueled the fire at the Westerhuis home.

“The Department of Education and the legislative audit are cooperating with law enforcement, and providing us that financial and audit information. there was prior to this though, no criminal investigation, no grand jury”, Jackley said. They are also working on analyzing the shotgun found at the house and finalizing autopsy results for all six family members.