As I said more and more details as they become old enough to understand.
Maybe just leave it as a bad accident as their father was tying to get
back home to live with his family. But I still think the sooner they are
able to made to understand the better. Kids in Elementary school's have
been caught with guns in school (I know it never happens at "our"
childrens schools' but these are facts of todays society). So the sooner
they know the sooner they can cope with it.

Young girls raised without fathers run into different problems where
they are taken advantage of by older kids in school while seeking some
sort of security (Try listening to "Love Line" on the Radio with Dr.
Drew to get an idea of whats down the road if this is dealt with wrong:
It is very scray).

At the very least I recomend looking into Family Therapy support groups
that deal with the same issues.

Marie, I looked online for support groups in your area under “Family
Support Groups for Murder Victim survivors” and there were several links
that came up. One site that seemed to be based in Washington was:

http://www.vaonline.org/support.html


Then on that site they had a Link to:

Murder Victims.Com


This site has much more information that anyone here can come up with
including Links to specialized situation surrounding homicide related
situations. Additionally I found support centers in Arlington, Seattle &
Tacoma. See the following Link to get Contact information:

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/6857/survive.html


Best of luck to you and your family in these troubled times…

Thanks so much for the information Sluggo, I wouldn't have thought to
look on line. I agree with your input on being honest with the kids,
just concerned about how she would handle it now.

Lots to think about, and thanks again for taking the time to check it
out. I really do appreciate the information and help.