Morgan Daub (Screenshot via YouTube)
A Pennsylvania woman at the center of her family’s mass suicide died wielding a sword inscribed with “sword of the lord.”
Police say they found the bodies of Morgan Daub, 26; her mother Deborah, 59; and her father James, 62, on Jan. 25 outside their West Manchester Township, Pennsylvania home. Morgan was holding the sword with religious text in her left hand. Police also found a “living will,” signed by each member and taped to one of the doors on the house, that indicated they did not want to be resuscitated.
“It appeared from the writing left behind by the mother, which was fairly detailed, that her daughter had approached her indicating that she was suffering from auditory hallucinations and that it was getting worse and felt she couldn’t live like that anymore,” Det. Timothy Fink of the West Manchester Township Police Department told CBS21. He said that after hearing this, Deborah decided she didn’t want Morgan to die alone.
“It appears the mother approached [the father] telling him of their plan and then he decided he couldn’t live without them,” Fink added.
Police say they found the bodies after being called to the house for a welfare check and believe the family died on Jan. 24. Neighbors said they heard three gunshots the night before police found the family, about 10-15 seconds apart, and authorities concluded that the family members were all shot in the head, with Deborah shooting James, followed by Morgan shooting Deborah and then herself.
The investigation into the death has been closed.
If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.
Suicide is not a typical response to hardship, and most people who consider it recover. The family, however, left behind pages upon pages of written notes, which have yet to be released to the public, that document their mindset. In one of notes, dated several days before their death by suicide, Deborah wrote “about the evil that has mounted against Morgan and the family but does not detail to what she is referring to,” according to a lengthy press release from the police. She also wrote that Morgan picked the date of their death, Jan. 24, from a biblical quote.
“Morgan chose the date! I believe I have to be with her,” one note reads, according to police. At first the letters are written in the tone of James knowingly surviving his loved ones’ planned deaths. However, after learning of the pact, he seemingly relented and decided to die as well.
Morgan Daub posing at a bowling alley. (Image via Suburban Bowlerama/Facebook)
In the months leading up to the family’s death, Morgan posted several videos on YouTube, many of which remain accessible to the public. They show Morgan giving lengthy, nonsensical speeches that cover a variety of topics but seemingly focuses on her “refusing to abdicate the English throne.” In one video, which has been viewed 137,000 times (largely after the deaths), she says she was next in line for the throne and that she’s a prophet of God. At times she speaks in a mock English accent. In the oldest video on the channel, Morgan spoke about how she believes there are “hundreds of millions of people after me” and goes into an extended rant about how the COVID pandemic is an operation conducted by the so-called “deep state.”
At times the video mirrors those created by people deep inside the QAnon community.
On Jan. 24, the day authorities say the family took their lives, a short video was uploaded to the site, which has been viewed 45,000 times. It only lasts five seconds and shows “Follow me as I follow Christ” written in white over a black background.
Those who knew the family stated that they were a deeply religious family to the extent that they homeschooled Morgan. The family was also political and were, as one neighbor told NBC, “all in on Trump’s reelection. The family’s front yard was described as being “littered” with Trump signs.
Morgan was described as a quiet, intelligent woman who was a talented bowler. The family frequented the local bowling alley but stopped coming in in 2019. Those who previously knew Morgan said that the person they heard in the video is remarkably different from the person they knew.
“There were varying degrees of mental illness, I believe, that played into each person’s decision to end their life,” Fink told CBS21.
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