Police: Factory Deaths Appear to Be Murder-Suicide and Accidental

PROVIDENCE — After weeks of investigation, police have released preliminary findings in the deaths of five people at an Atwells Avenue industrial building.

According to Providence Police Captain Robert Martins, the evidence suggests the deaths occurred in two separate incidents.

"Based on our investigation, the three individuals found in the basement appear to have died from a combination of malnutrition, dehydration, and in one case, possible poisoning," Capt. Martins said. "There's no evidence of homicide in those cases."

The two deaths found upstairs — Anastasia Marchenko and Harlan Stone — are being classified as a murder-suicide, though investigators have been unable to determine definitively which party was the initial aggressor.

"There was a violent confrontation between the two. Both sustained fatal injuries," Capt. Martins said. "The sequence of events remains unclear."

"Extreme Lifestyle" Cited

Investigators painted a picture of an isolated group living in increasingly extreme conditions.

"The residents had essentially cut themselves off from the outside world," said Detective Sarah Woodward. "They were sleeping most of the day, barely eating, engaged in what appears to have been intensive dream experimentation and documentation."

Journals recovered from the scene described elaborate shared dreaming practices and beliefs about achieving permanent residence in a "dream realm" through death.

"This appears to be an ideological belief system that contributed to the tragedy," Det. Woodward said. "We're working with cult experts to better understand what happened here."

Online Community Connection

Investigators have identified links between the deceased and online communities focused on shared dreaming and consciousness research. Several forums and blogs associated with the group have been taken offline since the deaths were reported.

"There's a concerning ideology present in some corners of these communities," said Dr. Amanda Foster, a cult researcher at Boston University consulted by police. "The belief that one can 'migrate' permanently to a dream realm through death is essentially suicide ideology dressed in mystical language."

Police are not pursuing charges against the two known associates of the group who were not present at the time of the deaths.