Murder-suicide in West Greenwich leaves neighbors shocked

WEST GREENWICH, R.I. (WLNE) — West Greenwich police said on Wednesday that the four bodies found in a West Greenwich home on Cheyenne Trail was a murder-suicide.

On Jan. 3, Danielle Arruda, 39, who was 7 months pregnant, her two kids, Adele, 5, and Felix, 2, were all found dead after suffering multiple gunshot wounds from a semi-automatic gun.

“We never saw activity,” Cheyenne Trail resident Aidan Schuster said. “We barely saw them outside.”

Residents on the street said the Arruda family kept to themselves.

“It was shocking to hear what went on there,” neighbor Eveline Paraskevakos said. “We are not used to anything like that, this is a quiet neighborhood.”

“I never saw the husband at all,” Schuster said. “I would see the wife every so often. I actually saw her Sunday, like four days before it happened.”

A growing memorial has been set up at the home on the front porch.

The suspect, Nicholas Arruda, 39, who was Danielle’s husband and Adele and Felix’s father, was also found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

“I wish there could be an explanation to make sense of this horrific act but the truth is, we may never know why it happened,” West Greenwich Police Chief Richard Ramsay said.

Police were called to conduct a well-being check at the home after a coworker of Danielle’s called police saying she hadn’t shown up to work for several days.

“Two vehicles were in the driveway and after several attempts to get someone to come to the door, we decided to force entry into the home,” Ramsay said. “Once inside the home officers immediately noticed the bodies of two young children, an adult male, and a pregnant female.”

Police said they believe the incident happened between Wednesday at 8 p.m. and Thursday at 5:20 a.m.

The neighbors said the same thing.

“I believe it happened around 5:20am,” Schuster said. “I was asleep but my brother heard gunshots at like 5:20 in the morning on Thursday.”

Police also said the Arruda family moved to this home in 2019 and police had never responded to the home until last week.