Nebraska State Patrol believe that father Jeremy Koch was responsible for the horrific murder-suicide that left his family dead on the day of his son’s high school graduation.
We reported yesterday how police are currently investigating the tragic event after Jeremy Koch, his sons Hudson, 18, and Asher, 16, and his wife, Bailey, 41, were discovered dead when Dawson County Sheriff’s Office visited their home around 9:45 a.m. on Saturday, May 10.
After accessing the property in Johnson Lake, Plum Creek Canyon, Nebraska, authorities found the family members deceased. All four had sustained knife wounds.
Jeremy and Bailey had previously set up a Facebook page called Anchoring Hope, intended to help support individuals struggling with suicidal thoughts. The two had been together for over 25 years.
The family’s relatives, meanwhile, have said that Jeremy Koch’s own mental health issues date back to at least 2009 and included multiple suicide attempts.
As recently as May 3, Bailey wrote that her husband had survived no less than four suicide attempts, while he was undergoing treatment to aid his mental health. In March, 2025, she said she woke to her husband standing over her with a knife, saying: “Something is wrong.” On that occasion, she was able to de-escalate the situation and convince him to seek help.
“Mental illness is taking my husband from me, and I’m begging you to open your eyes and see the reality that is this society’s mental health crisis,” she wrote.
According to the Nebraska State Patrol, it’s believed Jeremy killed each of his sons and his wife before ending his own life.
In a public social media post, Bailey’s parents, Lane and Peg Kugler, expressed frustration with the state of mental health care in the United States. Heartbreakingly, the murder-suicide took place on the same day the family’s eldest son, Hudson, was set to graduate high school.
At the 2025 Cozad Graduation Ceremony, Superintendent Dan Endorf commented on the tragedy.
“As you know, our community and our senior class experienced a tragedy within the past few hours,” Endorf said.
“The bittersweet emotions felt by the senior class on their graduation day, and throughout this entire gymnasium for that matter, cannot be concealed in this moment and are emblematic of the adult lives our graduates are about to begin. While our Haymaker pride is being tested at this moment, let’s all do our very best within the next hour to celebrate the 13 year journey that our graduates are completing today.”
An autopsy has been ordered for all four family members by the Dawson County Attorney, and the investigation is currently underway.
