The two youngest of their three children, Joseph, 13, and Anthony 10, "came home and couldn't get in the front door, and went to the back and saw blood on the back door. They got a neighbor with a key," said a source close to the investigation.
The couple had apparently engaged in a battle to the death with knives in nearly every room of the house, according to investigators, although the possibility of a murder-suicide had not been ruled out.
Police said they took three knives as evidence.
"The scene looked like a Quentin Tarantino movie," said a source familiar with the scene.
Blood was splattered everywhere "in most rooms of the house," said Sgt. Frank Hayes, head of the homicide investigation. The fight "appeared to start in the upstairs on the second floor."
Sophia DiAndrea was found in a blood-soaked rear bedroom while her husband was found in the front bedroom. Both had multiple stab wounds, he added.
Dr. Gary Collins, assistant medical examiner, performed autopsies, but the manner of death in both cases is pending.
"We don't know if it's a murder-suicide, or whether both contributed to the deaths," said Hayes. "We don't believe anyone else was involved."
Today, investigators and Collins will review everything, he added.
"We believe we know what led up to it," said Hayes, who acknowledged the couple had domestic problems.
"It's sensitive to the family and for the young kids," he added, saying he expected a "watered-down version" to be released.
A second source familiar with the investigation said the couple had been seeking a divorce.
Robert was a $44,860-a-year supervisor of water conveyance systems for the Water Department, hired on May 27, 1997, city records show.
