A custody battle led a Queens man to shoot dead his 6-year-old son, ex-wife and current wife before fatally turning the gun on himself, law enforcement sources said Tuesday.
The triple murder-suicide occurred Monday night inside 39-year-old killer James Shields’ first-floor Astoria apartment at 23-07 30th Drive, where he lived with wife Saskia Shields, 38, sources said.
James Shields’ ex-wife, Linda Olthof, 47, and their son, James Jr., live in the Netherlands and were in town so that the young boy could visit with his father for two months, according to sources.
Olthof had been ordered to let Shields see his child, sources said.
But around 9 p.m. Monday, Shields snapped and went on the bloody rampage before taking his own life, sources said.
He left behind a note that a source described as basically saying: “I had a perfect life, and now it’s all screwed up.”
A GoFundMe page created in April by Shields and titled “Child Kidnapping” detailed how the custody battle over his young son was “destroying my current marriage and life.”
The page, which had a goal of $30,000, said: “My beautiful son is 6 years old and my ex wife lives in the Netherlands. We were married and because she couldn’t find work as an artist ran back home to Holland after she was pregnant with my son devastating me.
“I’ve been spending a fortune to travel there as much as I could when he was a baby. Now that he’s older he expressed he wanted to spend time in the US. This was at the same point I was getting remarried to another Dutch woman who is such a loving and supportive person,” the page says.
“Due to my ex’s extreme jealousy and bitterness she is dragging me through court case after court case to be spiteful.
“I had the perfect life a few years ago but it has spiraled out of control and I desperately need any help you can provide,” Shields added.
The page had yet to raise any money.
Police said the four bodies were found with gunshot wounds in the living room, with Shields closest to the doorway.
A dark semi-automatic handgun was found next to him, according to cops.
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