Further investigation into three deaths on Saturday at a Mechanicsville residence indicate a murder-suicide.

Sgt. Chris R. Whitley of the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office said the deaths of Caroline R. and Madison R. King, who were 3-year-old twins, appear to have been caused by their father, Robert D. King, 40. The girls had lacerations to the neck area.

The investigation indicates that King had channeled the exhaust from his vehicle, which caused a lethal amount of carbon monoxide to have collected inside the residence in the 7900 block of Wynbrook Lane.

After an examination by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, King died as a result of one or more of a combination of these factors.

On Monday, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that King’s estranged wife and the girl’s mother, Kristina Hooper, found the bodies in a front bedroom that had been linked to the exhaust pipe of a van parked outside the house.

The Times-Dispatch said a search warrant affidavit and divorce petition records on file in Hanover County Circuit Court indicated she discovered her daughters and husband.

The article also said court records showed Hooper made the call to 911 at 3:36 p.m. She was found in the driveway “crying on her knees and stating, ‘My babies are dead. They’re in the house’.”

The Times-Dispatch said deputies found a van backed up near the residence with flexible duct tubing attached from the exhaust pipe, which continued into the bedroom,” where the three were found.

Court papers also indicated that officers were “initially overcome by fumes and began ventilating the residence” when they tried to enter the house.

Court documents also reported that investigators recovered blood-stained sections of duct tape tubing, a wallet and two notes of unspecified content in the house.

The girls lived in the 5000 block of Pole Green Road in Mechanicsville with their mother.

Speaking on behalf of Col. David R. Hines, sheriff, and the Sheriff’s Office, Whitley extended “our deepest sympathy to the families of the deceased as they mourn the tragic loss of their loved ones.”

Sunday morning, neighbors Tonya and Eric Pegram, whose house is two doors down from the King residence, talked about the loss on their street. The Pegram children – Conner 5, and Blakely, almost 2 — were playmates of the King girls.

“This is so sad, devastating,” Tonya said as she talked of the memories she had of the family. “The girls were always outside playing. They had their swings in their front yard and a trampoline in the back yard.”

She said she would never forget the sight of the father pulling the girls down their street in a wagon. “They were always going somewhere,” she said. “The girls would get in the wagon and off they’d go.”

Tonya said the good times weren’t limited to the father and twins. “When the ice cream truck would come around, we [the neighbors] would all take our kids to the corner to get ice cream,” she said. “They were always there with us.”

When asked if her son understood what was going on and what had happened to the twins, Tonya’s voice cracked and emotions took over. “He knows they are in heaven,” she said. “He knows they are in heaven.”

Senior writer Jim Fields and Bill McKelway of Media General News Service contributed to this report.