He allegedly wrote on the wall: “I’m a man of my word my kids died by my hand. I’m tired of them being made fun of” and “I’m going! My kids are going with me.”
A man has been accused of murdering his daughter and then draping a Pride flag over her body in a horrific crime.
Delbert Cornish, 51, has been charged with first-degree murder and aggravated assault, after the death of his 18-year-old daughter Hope Cornish in Caldwell, a suburb of Boise, Idaho.
He is accused of entering her bedroom and shooting her in the side of the head, a probable cause affidavit seen by the Mirror states. Investigators believe he had been planning to kill his three children and then himself for nearly a year.
He allegedly left a note written on the wall that said: “I’m a man of my word my kids died by my hand. I’m tired of them being made fun of” and “I’m going! My kids are going with me.”
Police say that after killing his daughter, he kissed her on the cheek and shot her cat “for the same reasons, because no one would take care of it after they were all dead,” the document says.
He then allegedly covered Hope’s body with a large gay pride flag “as a way to honor her, because it was something that meant a lot to her.”
According to court documents, his son arrived home from school on the day of the alleged incident to be met by Cornish. The suspect reportedly asked the boy how school was before telling him he had killed his sister.
The suspect tried to convince the boy to “check on his sister,” but he refused, the affidavit states. The suspect then allegedly pointed the gun at his son and even shot the floor.
A struggle allegedly ensued before the boy managed to get the gun off him and ran away. The teen then called the police.
Police rushed to the scene just after 4pm on Monday to find the front door open. They claim thay they saw a handgun magazine on the ground and a black handgun on the couch in the living room.
The suspect had fled the scene.
The arrest affidavit states that there was a “large note written on the wall” between the living room and kitchen, suggesting it was a planned possible murder/suicide.
According to the affidavit, police found Hope’s body in a bedroom with a “large hatchet sticking into the exterior of the door.”
A massive manhunt was launched to find the suspect with cops focusing on finding a 2020 orange Dodge Challenger owned by the suspect’s brother. With the help of license plate readers, it was found in the city of Mountain Home, about an hour southeast of the crime scene.
“I’m not gonna lie, I did it dude,” Delbert Cornish reportedly said after being caught by the police. When investigators told him they had found his daughter’s body, he allegedly began to cry.
The document adds: “Delbert asked further questions about the gun and told me he should’ve shot himself, as well as said he didn’t want to shoot his son. I later collected the GSR sample from each of his hands. While collecting the sample from his left hand, Delbert informed me that he shot the gun with his right hand.”
The affidavit goes on to describe: “Delbert admitted to me that he is an alcoholic who struggles with depression. Delbert said he is tired of living and is tired of being ‘belittled’ by his brother, whom he his children live with.”
