An investigation into a couple who were found mysteriously dead in their suburban Berkeley, California home has revealed that they died from carbon monoxide poisoning. Per a report by local news station KPIX CBS, law enforcement officials believe they were killed by toxic fumes from their 3D printer.
35-year-old Roger Morash and his wife, 32-year-old Valerie Morash, along with their two cats, were discovered dead earlier this week in a fourplex on Deakin Street in Berkeley, where they had lived for several years. The discovery of their dead bodies prompted the police to evacuate the apartment building for safety reasons. The street was also shut down as a precaution.
Police sources told KPIX CBS that the laser 3D printer the couple used in the apartment was venting carbon monoxide into the apartment. Carbon monoxide is invisible and has no smell. Per law enforcement, the symptoms of their deaths were consistent with poisoning from carbon monoxide, which they had in their systems. No other hazardous materials were found at the apartment.
A friend of the couple, Allen Rabinovich, says that there was no indication the 3D printer was operating at the time—contradicting the story.
“This is all pure speculation,” Rabinovich said in an interview with Berkeleyside. “The device named in the KPIX CBS article (‘laser 3D printer’) doesn’t even exist, and we are in contact with the police, who are still working on official investigation results. We’d like to ask the press to refrain from speculating until official results come out.”
However, another unnamed friend told the outlet that the couple — who were graduates of the highly prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology — had a small commercially-produced laser cutter that required ventilation, and that he himself had felt sickened by the fumes on one occasion.
Roger Morash was a game developer on the adventure game Shard. He previously worked on other popular video games including Mass Effect, Amplitude, and Rock Band 3. Valerie was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute. Roger’s co-workers at Gamenest have set up a GoFundMe to help the family pay for funeral expenses.
Former coworkers and industry colleagues shared their condolences on social media.
Ian Miles Cheong is a journalist and outspoken media critic. You can reach him through social media at @stillgray on Twitter and on Facebook.