A dark cloud visited Conejo Valley last week when a father fell off the edge and descended into that deep dark place where no person should ever go. He murdered two beautiful and innocent children by stabbing them to death and then took an overdose of pills and committed suicide.

Nobody could ever make excuses for such a parent, but we do know that he was distraught about the loss of a job and was facing a custody battle over the children.

To him, these may have been reasons enough to kill himself, but the children had nothing to do with it.

They were murdered to get revenge against his ex-wife.

He left the door to his apartment unlocked, knowing full well that it would be his former wife who would discover the horror of what had happened, a crime scene that even a seasoned police veteran described as “horrific” and “gruesome.”

It makes no difference whether you believe in God or if you’re an agnostic or atheist, such an act is so despicable, so profoundly ugly, that it defies even the slightest amount of logic.

As a community, we have witnessed the darkest side of humanity. Something happened here—in our little piece of the world—that should never happen anywhere .

Our hearts go out, of course, to the mother, family and friends of the children. But to no small degree, we are all victims of this senseless tragedy.

Try as we might to forget it, for some of us, it will remain in our memories forever.

They say that time heals all wounds. In this case, it will take longer. Much longer.