Police Uncover Motive in Troy Quadruple Homicide

(TROY, N.Y.) — Two men were committing a burglary when they killed two women and two children and fled their New York apartment with a television and an Xbox video game system, according to an indictment handed down Friday.

A Rensselaer County grand jury indicted James White and Justin Mann on 13 murder counts, as well as burglary, robbery and possession of stolen property. The men pleaded not guilty at an arraignment Friday and were sent to the county jail without bail.

The men are accused of the Dec. 21 slayings of Shanta Myers; her lover, Brandi Mells; and Myers’ children, ages 5 and 11. The bodies were found by a property manager who was asked to check on them the day after Christmas in Troy, north of Albany. Authorities have not disclosed how the victims were killed.