Two teenage girls fatally shot as they slept in their beds by their father, a retired White Plains police officer who also killed his family's three dogs before taking his own life, were remembered for their smiles at a joint funeral Friday.
Emil Gilotti, a great-uncle of Alissa and Deanna Hochman, said outside St. Gregory the Great Church in Harrison that his nieces, ages 18 and 13, respectively, "were touched by God." He said they didn't deserve their fate.
Firefighters and other first responders crowded the street outside the church and bells chimed as the teens' mother and older sister arrived in a motorcade led by an ambulance. They had been on a trip to Mohegan Sun when Glen Hochman killed himself and the girls early Saturday.
Alissa Hochman volunteered with the Harrison ambulance corps. She was a senior at Harrison High School. Her younger sister attended the Windward School in White Plains. It wasn't clear when or where their father would be buried.
Alissa Hochman's boyfriend was the one who discovered her father's body, police have said, though it wasn't clear if he also found her and her sister. He was called by Glen Hochman's wife and older daughter on their way home from the casino because they were concerned they couldn't reach the family. The girls' mother gave the boyfriend the passcode to the garage and he found Glen Hochman's body when he opened it that afternoon, police have said.
He called 911, as did a woman in the car with Glen Hochman's wife who heard her on the phone.
Officials said police found a five- or six-page note with Glen Hochman's body and that the note "gave some indication of motive," but he did not elaborate on the potential motive at a news briefing Monday. He said the note also indicated premeditation, and included instructions for Hochman's wife. A handgun found in Hochman's hand belonged to him and was likely used in the killings.
Hochman's wife had filed a domestic report with police a day before the killings. It stemmed from an argument over an $80 cellphone bill; authorities said no physical violence had been reported and no charges were filed.
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Glen Hochman spent 22 years at the White Plains Police Department before retiring recently. White Plains police Commissioner David Chong said he had served with honor and integrity and the department was "shocked and horrified by the news of this unfathomable tragedy."
