Children Murdered In New Town Laid to Rest - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Children Murdered In New Town Laid to Rest

The three children gunned down in their grandmother's home 10 days ago in New Town are being laid to rest today.

 This was a somber day for the small communities of Warsaw and Minto, where people knew these three kids and still wonder how such a tragedy could have happened.
     David Schwab was at the funeral and has the story.
Reporter: Three hearses line the front of St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Warsaw as nearby residents pack the church to say goodbye.
13-year-old Benjamin, 10-year-old Julia  and 6-year-old Luke Schuster were shot to death on November 18th while staying at their Grandmothers house in New Town.
Father John Kleinschmidt knew the children well.

Priest : "They could always lift up my spirit. So the really faced life courageous. And Luke he was a little jokester and really loved to make people laugh."

Reporter: All three children were baptized and took religion classes at the church - - where today they're laid to rest. Stuffed animals sit by the stained glass window and photos of the children chronicle their very short lives.

Priest : "In that mystery of love, for us with limited minds and limited hearts who can't see the eternal knowledge that the father sees, when something like this happens it is a mystery to us. "

Reporter: Father Kleinschmidt reminisced about the times he spent with the three, noting their bubbly personalities. He says for these small communities who got to know Benjamin, Julia and Luke... It will take long time to heal from this tragedy that has left so many shocked and saddened.

Priest : "And sometimes even the joys can the sorrow more anger. But they are  also give us a  sense of hope, and that is what the father delights in and that is the goodness that he put in them. "
  The funeral for the children's Grandmother,  Martha Johnson, who was also shot and killed,  was held Monday in the Fort Berthold Reservation community.
     A New Town man who killed himself in the nearby town of Parshall the day of the slayings is considered a person of interest in the case.