Funeral Wednesday For Moore Family

The funeral will be Wednesday for three members of the Moore family who died in a murder-suicide that has bizarre connections to the Barry Loukaitis rampage in February.

Aaron Harmon, 14, shot his mother and stepsister and then turned his rifle on himself at the family’s home Friday morning.

Last February, Loukaitis, then 14, walked into his eighth-grade classroom and shot his teacher and two classmates to death, and wounded a third.

Harmon is a cousin of Arnold Fritz, one of the students shot to death by Loukaitis. The two cousins were best friends and Harmon has been described as deeply upset by Fritz’ death.

A funeral for the Moore family members will be held on Wednesday at Immanuel Lutheran Church, whose pastor, Kevan Smith, already buried church member Fritz earlier this year.

“It’s like a scab being pulled off a wound and reliving the old wound all over again,” Smith said. “We’re looking at something dark, something we can’t understand, can’t comprehend.”

The Grant County Sheriff’s Department released only the barest information on Friday, and officers have said nothing since.

Harmon left a suicide note, whose contents will not be released because it is not considered a public document, Coroner Penny Sibley said this weekend.

Autopsies showed that Harmon, mother Linda Moore, 43, and stepsister Mallory Moore, 9, all died of gunshot wounds to the head. Aaron’s stepfather, Ronald Moore, was at work when the shootings occurred.

A man who answered the telephone at the Moore residence on Sunday said there would be no comments. He also declined to take a telephone message for Moore.

Harmon was originally identified as Aaron Moore, but authorities have said his birth certificate listed him as Aaron Harmon. His natural father has not been identified.

Neighbors continued to express shock at the killings.

“I’ve never met a closer family. They did everything together,” said Debbie Curtis, a next-door neighbor for 17 years. “He was turning into a very nice young man.”

Aaron Harmon has been described as a respectful, helpful boy who loved playing video games and fishing and hunting.

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