Shooter Who Killed Three, Himself Wasn’t Taking Bipolar Meds

A suburban Kansas City man who fatally shot his newlywed mother, her husband and the gunman's ex-wife, before killing himself, was mentally ill and experiencing financial problems.

The Kansas City Star reports that neighbor and friend Carol Nixon says 50-year-old Douglas Pauling refused to take medication for his bipolar disorder but that there were no signs he would become violent Sunday at a home in Parkville, Missouri.

Pauling's 14-year-old daughter escaped the weekly family gathering unhurt and called 911. Killed in the shooting was: Pauling's mother, 73-year-old Sharmalee Pauling; her new husband, 66-year-old Carl Deruyscher; and the teen's mother, 49-year-old Margaret "Maggie" Girard.

Besides mental illness, court records also show Douglas Pauling was facing a tax judgment and liens.

Parkville lies about 10 (16 kilometers) miles northwest of Kansas City.