DOVER, Mass. — A $1.25 million life insurance policy for Teena Kamal was changed days before the Dover mother and her teenage daughter, Arianna, were shot dead in December by her husband, Rakesh Kamal, who then turned the gun on himself, the Boston Globe reported.
The fax, which was sent to Genworth, a life insurance company in Virginia on the afternoon of Christmas Eve, added Rakesh Kamal’s brother, Manoj Kamal, as the contingent beneficiary to her policy in the event of Teena Kamal’s death, the Globe reported.
Before the change, the primary beneficiary had been Teena Kamal’s husband of more than three decades, Rakesh Kamal, also known as Rick. The backup, or “contingent,” beneficiary was her teenage daughter, Arianna Kamal, the Globe reported.
Four days after that fax arrived, on Dec. 28, 2023, authorities said Rick Kamal, 57, Teena Kamal, 54, and their 18-year-old daughter, Arianna Kamal, were found dead in their Dover mansion from an apparent murder-suicide.
Since their deaths, a court battle has started over Teena Kamal’s life insurance payout, with Rick and Teena Kamal’s families at opposing ends, as the couple’s troubled finances wind through probate court, the Globe reported.
“Unbeknownst to even his immediate family, Rick Kamal had amassed massive debt in the years leading up to the murder-suicide, from the mortgage on their $4 million house, to six-figure loans from a family member, to a slew of ill-fated business deals involving associates in the Boston area and beyond,” the Globe reported.
After the Kamals’ deaths, Rick’s brother, Manoj Kamal, filed a claim to collect the payout from Teena Kamal’s policy, the Globe reported. Teena’s brother, Sandeep Bedi, who is administering her estate, also contacted the life insurance company with concerns about the circumstances of the deaths and the change of beneficiary form.
Genworth in April asked a federal court in Boston to decide who should get the proceeds of the policy, the Globe reported. Manoj Kamal and Sandeep Bedi have until Aug. 2 to respond to Genworth’s filing, either by reaching a settlement or taking steps toward a civil trial.
Court documents show the Kamals were facing financial troubles in the months leading up to the apparent murder-suicide.
In September 2022, Teena Kamal filed for Ch. 13 bankruptcy, listing liabilities between $1 million and $10 million, according to filings in federal bankruptcy court. The bankruptcy case was dismissed a month later after Teena Kamal failed to comply with court orders, documents show.
Wilsondale Associates LLC was listed as a creditor listed among the bankruptcy filings. Assessors records show the Kamals sold the home at 8 Wilson’s Way to Wilsondale Associates in December 2022 for $3 million, well below the town’s assessed property value of $6.8 million.
According to the Globe, the Kamals lived in a 21-room mansion in Dover that included a spa, a movie theater, and a pool. The Kamals purchased the home in Feb. 2019 for $4 million, most of it borrowed. A $3.8 million mortgage taken from its builder was due in full in two years.
The Kamals, who were served an order to vacate the Dover mansion in late Dec. 2022, were served with eviction proceedings in May 2023, the Globe reported. By December 2023, Metro South Housing Court issued an order to Wilsondale allowing the company to enforce the Kamals’ eviction, according to the Globe.
Rick Kamal, a 1987 graduate of Boston College who worked as a software developer and entrepreneur, had been talking with a listing agent about buying a $16.5 million waterfront estate on Chickamauga Lake in Tennessee since Oct. 2022, the Globe reported. The family had also toured that house last August.
“Teena had no clue that there were financial problems,” her brother, Sandeep Bedi, told the Boston Globe. “She thought that they were rolling in money.”
Rick Kamal had previously worked for Fidelity Investments in Boston alongside Teena, whom he wed by arranged marriage, according to the Globe.
Autopsy results in January indicated that Teena Kamal, and her daughter Arianna Kamal, were victims of homicide by gunshot, investigators said in January. Rick Kamal died of a gunshot wound that was consistent with being self-inflicted.
Investigators allege Rick Kamal fatally shot his wife and daughter with an unregistered .40 caliber Glock 22 that troopers found near his body.
“The firearm was not registered to Mr. Kamal and he was not licensed to possess it,” the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office said in January.
Officers responding to a 911 call at 8 Wilson’s Way just before 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 28, 2023 spoke with a relative who stopped by the house for a well-being check and found Rick, Teena, and Arianna dead inside, according to authorities.
Arianna Kamal, a 2023 graduate of Milton Academy, was a first-year student at Middlebury College in Vermont when she was killed.
Her mother, Teena, served as president of Milton Academy’s Upper School Parents’ Association and also on the regional board of the American Red Cross of Massachusetts.
Dover is an affluent community in Norfolk County, west of Dedham and southwest of Boston. The town’s population was 5,923 at the 2020 U.S. Census.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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