The father of Sara McMeen -- the Illinois woman who killed her boyfriend and three young children last week, before turning the gun on herself -- fatally shot his wife more than 40 years ago, RadarOnline.com has learned.

In January of 1971, Louis McMeen Sr. fatally shot wife Pamela in front of their 2-year-old son, Louis A. McMeen Jr., the Pontiac Daily Leader reported, adding both were just 20-years-old when the incident occurred. The paper reported he then went to the Streator Police Station and confessed to the crime, telling officials, "I just murdered my wife."

Louis was initially declared incompetent and did not go to trial, but he was sent to the Department of Mental Health, where a judge in 1973 ruled he was “to be retained in such custody so long as he continues to suffer from said condition.”