A thorough search of Fayette

law enforcement and court records showed no hint of trouble at the Hilderbrand

household at 215 Lofty Eagle Lane in north Fayette County. But a triple

murder and a suicide were in the family's future.

Authorities say ex-Fayetteville

antique dealer Michael Hilderbrand, Sr., shot and killed his wife, her

daughter and their son in their new South Carolina home last month and

was stalking his ex-wife near the nation's capital when he was spotted

authorities said.

The family left Fayette in

August 1999 and moved to Greer, S.C., about three hours northeast of Atlanta,

where problems began to crop up earlier this year. The deadly series of

events began Monday, March 5.

Claiming her husband, Michael,

was verbally abusive and threw her around, Sandra Hilderbrand obtained

a protective order at 4 p.m. Monday afternoon, March 5, to keep him away

from her and her daughter, Caitlin, 8, and their son, Michael Jr., 5,

according to court records and news reports.

At 7:45 p.m. that same day,

police believe, Hilderbrand parked his black Jeep at the rear of the home,

drowned the family dog in the pool, then let himself into the Dillard

Road home and shot to death his wife and the children.

The next morning, Tuesday,

March 6, Hilderbrand told officials at his stepdaughter's school and his

son's daycare that the children were sick and wouldn't be back until Friday.

Before noon that day, police said, Hilderbrand bought a 9mm handgun from

a gun shop in Greer and drove to Herndon, Va., near his ex-wife's apartment

in Reston, Va. Police believe he intended to make his ex-wife murder victim

number four. After checking into a motel there, police said, Hilderbrand

drove to a pistol target practice range.

The crime scene at the Hilderbrands'

home was discovered when Sandra's attorney, Henry J. Mims, became concerned

about the family's whereabouts. Sandra had been scheduled to meet with

him Tuesday, but she never showed up.

Mims contacted the Sheriff's

Department, and deputies went to the family's home Tuesday evening, but

found nothing suspicious.

But during a second visit to

the home in the early hours of Wednesday, March 7, deputies found the

family dog drowned at the bottom of the swimming pool. That discovery

triggered a search of the house, where the bodies of Sandra, Caitlin and

Michael, Jr., were discovered.

Hilderbrand had been long gone

Greer. Upon entering, they discovered a heavy smell of gas, and the area

was evacuated.

After the gas was cleared away,

it was determined that Hilderbrand had gone to the store and turned on

the gas, leaving several six-inch candles burning in the shop. Authorities

said he wanted to blow up the store, and it was estimated that had the

gas caught fire, it would have created an explosion "enough to destroy

a whole city block."

Virginia police were later

notified that Hilderbrand might be coming to the area to locate his ex-wife,

and that's why he was spotted by authorities there. The ensuing high-speed

chase, three days after the killings, ended when a police car bumped Hilderbrand's

vehicle, causing him to crash into a wall near Dulles International Airport.

As officers approached, Hilderbrand

shot himself with the 9mm pistol.

In court documents seeking

the protective order, Sandra had described her husband as "very unstable

and violent at times."

She also claimed that he failed

to take his medicine that had been prescribed to treat his bipolar disorder,

a mental illness involving episodes of serious mania and depression in

severe mood swings.

The family had lived in Fayette

County a short time, from 1997 to 1999, in a two-story home in the Foxhall

Farms subdivision off Ga. Highway 92 north. They sold the home in August

1999 for $184,000, a $20,000 profit, according to courthouse deed records.

Other than the home, the only

remaining local link to the Hilderbrands is artwork that Michael Hilderbrand

painted on the exterior of the couple's abortive antique shop at 342 N.

Glynn St. in Fayetteville. According to city records, Puppy's Antiques

maintained a business license for just one year.

The 3,000-square-foot open

shop area, adjacent to The Citizen's offices and just off busy Hwy. 85,

was refurbished for the antiques trade, but domestic trouble between Hilderbrand

and his wife ended the venture before it ever opened to the public.

But when the family moved to

Greer, they opened up another antiques store under the same name.

Sandra Hilderbrand confided

in a customer at the Greer store one day that her husband was causing

problems. Shirley Phillips told The Greenville News that Sandra knew her

husband was going to kill her.

"She told me that if she

filed papers, he would kill her," Phillips said. "It was almost

like she was resigned to it. That's what's so sad. It was almost like

'I know what he's going to do.'"

Phillips said she told Sandra

to be careful, but Sandra said she already had secured the services of

an attorney. She had begun divorce proceedings in the fall.

In fact, family members told

The Greenville News that she had planned to escape the area and take the

children to Oklahoma to live near friends and family. Sandra had made

arrangements to move to Guthrie, Okla., before a friend lost contact with

her after the Hilderbrands' phone number changed. That was a regular occurrence

with the family, said Anneliese Herren of Guthrie, Sandra's best friend.

"Every time I would leave

a message [on the answering machine], he would erase it," Herren

said. "She was not allowed to keep in contact with anybody."

Hilderbrand would also confiscate

mail sent to his wife, Herren added.

"He intercepted everything,"

she said.

Sandra even called her brother

several days before the murders and told him something was wrong, "but

she wouldn't leave," Joanna Cosetti, her sister-in-law told the newspaper.

Mims told The Greenville News

that he had become afraid of Hilderbrand while representing Sandra, so

much so that he purchased a gun to carry and protect himself should he

ever be attacked.

[The Citizen's John Munford

was aided in reporting this story by reporters at The Greenville (S.C.)

News, whose help The Citizen acknowledges and appreciates.]