Overwhelming debt, the threat of eviction, and a last-minute alteration to a million-dollar life insurance policy led a Massachusetts father to shoot dead his wife and daughter before taking his own life in their $6.7 million Dover mansion in December, according to a report.
Rakesh Kamal, 57, shot dead his wife his wife, Teena, 54, and their 18-year-old daughter, Arianna, in their Dover mansion. He then turned the gun on himself in an apparent murder-suicide. According to the Boston Globe, four days before the incident, a fax signed by Teena Kamal was sent to the Virginia-based life insurance company Genworth, requesting a change to her $1.25 million life insurance policy.
Disturbing Details Behind Murder-Suicide
Teena's policy initially named her husband as the primary beneficiary and their daughter as the secondary beneficiary. However, the fax requested that Rick and Arianna be made the primary beneficiaries, with Rick's brother, Manoj Kamal, listed as the contingent beneficiary.
The murders shocked the community, where Rick was seen as a wealthy entrepreneur and devoted father running a successful start-up business.
Since January, Rakesh's brother, Manoj, and Teena's brother, Sandeep Bedi, have been embroiled in a legal dispute as they uncover their siblings' troubled financial history.
After the three deaths, Manoj, who found the bodies in the home, filed a claim with the life insurance company to collect the policy payout.
Bedi, managing his sister's estate, expressed "concerns" to the company about the circumstances of the deaths and the change of beneficiary form, according to the outlet.
Faced with the decision of who should receive the money, the life insurance company requested a federal court in Boston in April to determine the policy's rightful beneficiary.
Manoj and Bedi have until August 2 to respond to the filing.
They can either settle or engage in a potentially prolonged civil trial, which could reveal the motive behind the reported "doting" father's murder-suicide.
Rakesh Kamal had accumulated massive debt, including a $3.8 million mortgage on the $4 million property he and his wife purchased on Valentine's Day 2019, a six-figure loan from a family member, and a series of unsuccessful business ventures in and around Boston.
According to two separate affidavits reviewed by the Boston Globe, the software developer and entrepreneur had borrowed $500,000 from Bedi and a substantial sum from his brother Manoj.
Three Deaths and a Life Insurance Policy
Rakesh had insisted that his brother-in-law not tell Teena about the loan. "I would never in my wildest dreams question what Rick is doing," Bedi told the paper in January.
"We put him on a pedestal so high you cannot imagine," he added. "So now, for us to reconcile not just that he murdered my sister and my niece, but that he was lying to us for years — it just cannot even sink in."
In addition to the substantial debt, a Chapter 13 bankruptcy claim was filed in Teena's name in September 2022, listing liabilities between $1 million and $10 million, according to Boston 25 News, citing federal bankruptcy records.
The case was dismissed a month later due to the failure to submit the required forms.
In December 2022, the Kamals were ordered to vacate their 21-room Dover mansion, and eviction proceedings began in May 2023, according to the Boston Globe.
Rakesh also owed $760,000 to a Maryland-based company, nTech Connect, after borrowing $550,000 for his company, Cambetas, in December 2022.
Rakesh promised to personally repay the business loan within four months, stating he was awaiting an "international wire transfer." He had secured the loan using his widowed mother's home in Woburn as collateral, as his Dover residence was in the process of foreclosure.
Bedi and the Norfolk District Attorney's Office believe that Teena died unaware of her husband's significant debt. "Teena had no clue that there were financial problems," Bedi told the Boston Globe. "She thought that they were rolling in money."
If the case proceeds to court, Manoj will argue that the insurance company should adhere to the latest revision of Teena's policy, making him the contingent beneficiary.
Bedi will challenge the validity of the policy change form, questioning its timing relative to the deaths and whether the signature genuinely belonged to Teena. Though Teena's signature had a witness, their identity was not disclosed.
Genworth's policy stipulates that the witness cannot also be a beneficiary.
If a judge or jury supports Bedi's argument, the life insurance policy would revert to the original terms. Since the original beneficiaries, Rakesh and Arianna, are deceased, the payout would go to Teena's estate.
The funds would first cover attorney's fees, funeral costs, and any outstanding taxes before being distributed to creditors and then next of kin.
As Teena Kamal died intestate, the remaining estate would be inherited by her parents in India.
