Police: Duluth man fatally shot two sons, wife, ex-wife and himself

DULUTH – A Duluth man known to struggle with his mental health this week killed his two sons, wife and ex-wife before shooting himself, police said Friday.

The killings were discovered when officers were called to conduct a welfare check Thursday afternoon at a house on the quiet 6000 block of Tacony Street in the West Duluth neighborhood, where Anthony Nephew’s ex-wife Erin Abramson, 47, lived with their son Jacob Nephew, 15.

Abramson, who worked for the city of Superior, Wis., had not shown up for work that day — which was uncharacteristic and a cause for concern among coworkers.

In the home, the woman and teenager were found dead from gunshot wounds.

Police then went to Nephew’s home, less than a mile away in the 4400 block of West Sixth Street, across from Denfeld High School. There they discovered the bodies of his wife, Kathryn “Kat” Ramsland, 45, and their son Oliver Nephew, 7.

Both had been shot to death, Police Chief Mike Ceynowa said during a somber afternoon news conference at the city’s Public Safety Building.

Anthony Nephew’s body was also at the home. He had died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Ceynowa said police were still investigating the timeline by analyzing cellphone data. Nephew’s motives weren’t definitive, but the police chief said he was known to struggle with his mental health. Ceynowa confirmed that police had in the past responded to calls to the house.

Nephew said in a 2021 column he wrote for the Duluth News Tribune that it’s time to start building better frameworks for mental health in this country. Most Americans, he wrote, deny they have mental health struggles.

“Because they have to, because they’re told to, or because they don’t realize their mind is broken, they keep pushing forward, incurring one psychic injury after another, trauma after trauma, collecting interest, until finally the synapses overload, and they suffer a breakdown,” Nephew wrote.

“For most of us, that’s the best end result. For millions of Americans, a breakdown leads to suicide — or homicide before suicide.”

Nephew said in the column that he was a 1996 graduate of Denfeld High and had written it while in therapy after “a mental breakdown” and because he felt he had been “bottling things up.”

Nephew posted regularly to Facebook, sometimes about political frustrations. He was a self-described independent who opposed Donald Trump. In July, he wrote that his mental health and the world can no longer peacefully coexist, “and a lot of the reason is religion.”

“I am terrified of religious zealots inflicting their misguided beliefs on me and my family,” he wrote. “I have intrusive thoughts of being burned at the stake as a witch, or crucified on a burning cross, or my absolute favorite[:] Having people actually believe that I or my child are Satan or, the anti-Christ or whatever their favorite color of boogie man they are afraid are this week.

“When did turn the other cheek, become double-tap to the forehead?”

More recently, he considered the place of humans in the galaxy. He hiked, grew things in his yard and said he appreciated his son Oliver’s LEGO creations. In October, he wished his wife a happy anniversary and said he loved her more every day.

One of his last posts showed anger at the Minnesota Star Tribune’s decision to not make an endorsement in the presidential election.

At Thursday’s news conference, Superior Mayor Jim Paine described Abramson, who worked in the city’s Environmental Services Division, as “very intelligent, very hardworking, and honest.”

“It made her one of the most competent staff at the city of Superior,” he said.

Jacob Nephew was a student at Marshall School, where a member of the administration said he had a profound impact. He was part of the UMD honor orchestra, Knowledge Bowl Team, Nordic ski team, orchestra, Chess Club and Environmental Advocacy Club.

“A talented academic and a generous spirit, Jacob will be missed dearly by our entire community,” Jennifer Berry, the school’s director of advancement, said in an email.

Ramsland was remembered as a “cherished member of the Lake Superior College art department,” in a statement from the college. Her Facebook profile photo is dominated by an image of a Fisher-Price camera seemingly pressed to her son’s eye.

“She was a passionate educator and esteemed colleague who left a lasting impact on her students, the college, and all who had the privilege of knowing her,” according to the statement.

Ramsland and Nephew were featured in a 2015 Duluth News Tribune story about the competitive local housing market and how they had come to own their house. Over the years, they added a lofted playhouse and a “gift library” to the yard of the corner lot.

Oliver Nephew was a “beloved” first-grader at Rockridge Academy, according to a statement from Duluth Public Schools. In one of the final photographs of him on his mother’s Facebook page, he lies in a pile of Halloween candy with a hand-drawn lightning scar on his forehead and a wide grin.

By early afternoon Friday, the little library at the Nephew home was surrounded by stuffed animals and flowers. There was a handwritten letter inside addressed to Oliver referencing his unforgettable laugh and smile.

“I’ll never forget you were bold, spunky and bright,” the author wrote. “Our community won’t be the same without you.”