The man charged with killing two women and sexually assaulting a third is due in court Thursday. Forty-six-year-old Fabian Hands of Omaha faces two counts of criminal homicide and weapons charges. An assault charge has not yet been filed.
Outside the home at 21st and Sahler, it was quiet and peaceful Wednesday, a world very different from what lies behind the screen door a stuffed animal now protects.
What was it like to see the house like this? "It's crazy," says Latasha Brown. There was blood everywhere.
Her mother, 48-year-old Renota Brown, and aunt, 36-year-old Saundra Brown, were found dead in the basement Christmas Eve. For the first time Wednesday, Latasha got a look inside the home.
In a bedroom and under the bed, Latasha says the only surviving victim, a 20-year-old relative, hid and called 911. "It's just outrageous. It's been real difficult because I am used to talking to my mom every single day, every single day.”
The whole scene is overwhelming, but there are some places Latasha just won't go. “Probably, that basement, I am not going down there."
What happened has created more questions for the family than answers. "Why? Why? Nobody did nothing, but try to help him and how he did this to my aunt and my mom.”
One of the victims’ families says they believed the two women may have been shot or stabbed to death, though Omaha Police say the weapon was not a firearm.
Police were called to the residence around 9:30 p.m. Monday. When officers arrived, the front door was open.
Officers entered and the younger woman came out of the bedroom and told them she had been assaulted. As she was describing what happened, Hands came out of the same bedroom and began attacking the woman in front of police.
The officers subdued Hands and a subsequent check of the house led to the gruesome discovery in the basement. Family members said Hands lived in the house and was Saundra Brown's boyfriend.
Neighbors didn't hear a thing. "An investigator came to our house and asked my wife if she heard anything,” said Sewa Mensah.
"Very scared, two died,” says Alberto Montes. “It's incredible because no noise, no nothing."