A wealthy real estate executive who shot his wife and daughter before turning the gun on himself in a gruesome double murder suicide was being sued for stealing money from clients, it has been revealed.
The bodies of Steven Dym, 56, his 50-year-old wife Loretta and their 18-year-old daughter Caroline were discovered inside their Westchester, New York, mansion by their housekeeper last week.
Authorities were at a loss over what prompted Dym, a seemingly ‘very happy’ husband and father, to commit the killings.
On Monday, it was revealed that Dym had been in court as recently as the week earlier to face accusations he had stolen money from clients and that the family was preparing to sell their sprawling suburban home.
Real estate executive and building manager Steven Dym, 56, was being sued for stealing money from clients when he shot his wife Loretta, 50, and daughter Caroline, 18, before killing himself last week
One disgruntled client claimed Dym had taken $22,000 from them without explanation, according to The New York Post, and said he failed to turn over financial records for their deal once he was caught.
‘We don’t know what happened to the books. We don’t know how much money is missing and we were in active discovery,’ Richard Walsh, the lawyer working on behalf of the plaintiff, said.
He was previously sued in 2014 by a different associate and was forced to pay out $50,000 to settle that dispute.
‘There were a number of buildings he ripped off,’ Louis K. Maisel, the owner of an apartment in another New York City building which Dym managed, said.
In the weeks before his death, Dym made passing reference to the fact his family’s $1.6million home was for sale but behaved strangely when speaking about it.
The Dyms’ $1.6million mansion in Westchester, New York, was put on the market at the start of the summer and was under contract
Neighbors said Dym, a ‘very happy’ husband and father, was odd when talking about the move and confessed that he did not know where the family would next live
Caroline, 18, was a senior at Sacred Heart high school. Her older brother Will, 20, is a student at the University of Southern California and was away attending classes when his mother, sister and father died
‘Not only did he not know where he was going, but he didn’t even know if he was going,’ neighbor Chris Shaffer said.
The home, which boasts plush gardens, a swimming pool and luxurious interiors, was put on the market at the start of summer and was under contract.
Neighbors described Steven and Loretta as loving parents who were devoted to their children
Other neighbors recalled going to a tag sale at the home where the family flogged their belongings.
The trio’s bodies were discovered by a housekeeper on Friday August 25. Their 20-year-old son Will was at college in California at the time.
Afterwards, neighbors and friends spoke in disbelief as they described the family as happy and loving.
‘Never ever in my whole entire life [did I see this coming],’ said Gorana Odobasic, 28, a close friend of Loretta Dym.
‘I’m in such utter shock, Loretta and just the way she spoke about her husband — her kids were her life. It seemed that they were very happy.
‘The few times I’ve met Steve Dym, he seemed like a great husband and a great father.’
Dym was the CEO of Gabriel Management in New York City, a realty company founded by his father.
Loretta was a businesswoman and vice president of Club Quarters Hotels in Manhattan and a volunteer with Make-A-Wish foundation.
The well-heeled pair also had political connections, donating money to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s failed 2002 campaign.