The man accused in the gruesome killing Tuesday of his oldest son had a history of both substance abuse and mental illness, according to police in Cameron, Mo.

“When family members came in to report the children missing, the indication was made that he had been committed for drug and alcohol rehabilitation and treatment for some mental problems,” said Cpl. Judy Becker of the Cameron Police Department. “But the family indicated he’d been clean for eight years.”

Lisa Boothe, 31, went to police Tuesday evening after learning her husband, Raymond Boothe, a 34-year-old union carpenter, had driven at midday to Creston, Iowa, to pick up their developmentally disabled son, Levi, 11, from a group home.

About 6 p.m. Tuesday, Boothe was back in Missouri at his sister’s home in Osborn, where he took his other children  Nicole, 9, Mitchell, 7, and Makayla, 6. They had been living with their aunt while Lisa Boothe was in a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program.

“She indicated it was for alcohol,” Becker said.

Later that evening, Raymond Boothe allegedly stabbed Levi several times with a pair of needle-nose pliers and left the boy’s body alongside the Kansas Turnpike where he was later found dead.

Roughly three hours later in Lawrence, Raymond Boothe crashed his car near 27th Street and Lawrence Avenue in an apparent attempt to kill himself and the other children. All four survived.

The unusual events around the Boothe home in Cameron began several hours before Raymond Boothe took the children, police said. Early Tuesday, police investigated a report of a fire burning outside the home, which is a few blocks from downtown Cameron.

“When the officers got there, they found Raymond (Boothe) at the fire,” Becker said. “And they put it out.”

Chris McQuinn, who lives one door south of the Boothes, said he reported the fire.

“I looked out there at 2 o’clock in the morning and saw somebody burning something,” he said. “I didn’t know what was going on, so I called police.”

When police arrived, McQuinn said, he heard Boothe say he was moving out of the house and burning trash.

The next evening, the Boothes’ landlords, Billy and Verna Treece, discovered that burners on the electric stove had been left on and unattended, causing a fire that ruined the stove and damaged the kitchen.

Becker said police think the trash fire was the result of the stove catching fire and Boothe hauling the flaming materials outside.

McQuinn said the Boothes were good neighbors. But it wasn’t unusual, he said, to see lights on in the Boothes’ house at all hours of the night.

“It wasn’t a problem or anything,” he said. “I asked him about it once and he said he couldn’t sleep sometimes.”

Family members are reeling from the week’s events.

“This is a bad situation,” said Jim Perry, whose son is married to Boothe’s sister. “The family would appreciate it if people would respect what the children have been through and give the family time to console itself.

“When it’s appropriate, we’ll issue a statement.”

Peter Graham, director of adult treatment at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, read about Raymond Boothe in Thursday’s Journal-World.

“I don’t know any of the particulars, but, generally speaking, it sounds as if we are talking about an individual who was possibly dealing with both bipolar and addiction, while also dealing with the strain that comes with honestly trying to support a family, care for a disabled son, and then his wife’s absence,” Graham said. “That’s a massive amount of strain for anyone in those circumstances to sustain.”