In the quiet town of Preston, Idaho, a heartbreaking story unfolded on February 19, 2017, forever altering the lives of a local family. Seven-year-old Tate McCoy Spillett, a White male, was found deceased in his home, the victim of a shocking act of violence that also claimed the lives of his two siblings. The devastating event, which took place in the early hours of a Sunday morning, was not discovered until late that afternoon when a family friend made the grim discovery and alerted the
authorities.
Investigators determined that Tate, along with his six-year-old sister, Jessica Spillett, and his fifteen-year-old stepbrother, Corbin Hillaker, were shot and killed while they were asleep in their beds. The children were discovered in their respective rooms, having been fatally wounded by a semi-automatic rifle. The tranquility of their home on West 200 South was shattered by an unthinkable tragedy that left the small community in disbelief and mourning.
The sole suspect in the deaths of the three children was their own father, 37-year-old Tate Spillett Sr. Police concluded that after taking the lives of his children, he then used the same rifle to take his own life. At the time of the incident, the children's mother was out of state, traveling for work in Illinois. Authorities have suggested that the motive behind the murder-suicide was connected to the fact that the children's parents were going through a divorce.
The investigation, which involved the Preston Police Department, the Franklin County Sheriff's Office, and the Idaho State Police, confirmed that there were no other individuals involved in the tragic event. With the perpetrator deceased, no arrests were made in connection with the deaths of Tate McCoy Spillett and his siblings. The community was left to grapple with the profound loss of three young lives cut short by an act of domestic violence.
