'My son just ... told me he killed his baby' Mother of ex-Henrico man in incest case told N.C. police in 911 call her son killed his adult daughter, their infant son and woman's adoptive father

On Thursday morning at 8:52 a.m., Steven Pladl's mother struggled through sobs as she told authorities that her son had killed the baby he'd conceived with his 20-year-old daughter.

There was more: The daughter and her adoptive father were dead, too.

Just minutes earlier, she told police, her son had called to say he had killed the three - the baby in North Carolina; and his daughter, Katie, and her adoptive father in Connecticut after driving hundreds of miles north to find them.

"I can't even believe this is happening," said Pladl's mother, crying as she reported the ghastly series of events.

Pladl's mother told a second 911 operator that her son was "dead by now." After fatally shooting Katie and her adoptive father - Anthony Fusco, 56 - Pladl told his mother that "he was next."

"He said he's going to kill himself because he can't live without her," said the mother, whose name was not released by police.

More details emerged Friday about Pladl's rampage that left four people dead in three states. It was a horrific end to an already disturbing case of criminal incest between Steven, 42, and Katie, who made plans to get married after Steven and his wife - Katie's biological mother - had divorced. Katie first contacted her birth parents about two years ago.

But Katie, who had moved back with her adoptive parents in New York after she and Pladl were charged in Henrico County with incest and released on bond, apparently sought to end the relationship. Pladl's mother told police that Katie told her father on Wednesday that she was breaking it off.

The mother's 911 calls, which were released Friday, helped police piece together what happened Wednesday night through Thursday morning as Pladl drove from Knightdale, N.C., to New Milford, Conn., and then Dover, N.Y.

"We may never understand the mindset or motives of Steven Pladl, but we do know his actions have shattered the lives of countless people," Knightdale Police Chief Lawrence Capps said in a statement. "We pray the families affected are able to find some measure of comfort and peace as they work to cope with this senseless tragedy."

In an anguished voice, Pladl's mother first told police in her 911 call that "my son just called and told me he killed his baby."

"You said that he told you he killed his baby?" the communications officer responded as the mother sobbed in distress.

After some prompting by the officer, the mother described the acts of violence that Pladl told her he committed. He had called her about 8:45 a.m.

"He's not at home," the mother said, referring to where Pladl was living on Earlston Court in the neighboring town of Knightdale. "His wife broke up with him over the phone yesterday."

The mother said Pladl had called the night before - police said it was shortly before midnight - to say he was on his way to New York. "He said he was going to bring the baby to her and then he's coming back," she said.

"And he ... he said he killed his wife, he killed her father," added the mother, again breaking into sobs.

Pladl, the mother said, told her he "left the baby dead when he left" his residence in Knightdale. She said her son instructed her to call the police and "that I shouldn't go over there."

"He said he put a key under the front mat ... to get into the house," the mother said.

The officer asked if Pladl told her how he killed the baby. "No, and I didn't ask him. I didn't want to know. Oh my God."

The mother's call was then transferred to the Raleigh-Wake County Emergency Communications Center for dispatch to Knightdale police. In that call, the mother told a communications officer that her son was probably dead by now. She said Pladl told her the baby could be found in a closet in an upstairs bathroom.

Knightdale police responded to the home about 9 a.m. and found the body of 7-month-old Bennett Pladl - the child born to Pladl and Katie. The infant had been in the custody of Pladl's mother. But Pladl picked up the child Wednesday, telling his mother that he and the baby planned a video chat with Katie that evening, Capps said.

On Friday, Capps said police were not releasing the child's cause of death, but noted the infant did not sustain any "noticeable" injuries or trauma.

"The pending autopsy exam and toxicology report are expected to shed more details on the manner and cause of death," said Capps, who earlier said the death was a homicide.

Roughly five minutes before Pladl called his mother for the last time, police in New Milford, Conn., received a report of two people being shot at the intersection of Route 7 and Route 55 in the Gaylordsville section of New Milford, said Lt. Lawrence Ash, a police spokesman.

Arriving officers found two people - later identified as Katie Pladl and Anthony Fusco - dead of gunshot wounds in a truck. "Witnesses reported seeing a vehicle bearing a North Carolina license plate drive alongside of a pickup truck and began firing a gun at the truck," said Ash, adding the suspect then fled the scene.

Police developed information that led to a description of the suspect's vehicle and its direction of travel, and local police agencies were alerted. Authorities eventually located the vehicle on Dog Tail Corners Road in Dover, N.Y., about 16 miles from New Milford.

The vehicle was parked on the shoulder with the engine running, and the driver, tentatively identified as Pladl, was found dead inside from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Steven and Katie Pladl were charged by Henrico police in January with felony incest, adultery and contributing to the delinquency of a minor after confirming their relationship. Pladl had told his then-wife last year that he had impregnated their daughter and planned to marry her. The baby was born in September.

The father and daughter - who moved to Knightdale and lived together at the Earlston Court address - were brought back to Virginia and arraigned Feb. 20 on the Henrico charges.

Steven Pladl was granted bail but ordered not to leave Virginia. On Feb. 28, his daughter was granted bail on the condition she live with her adoptive parents in Wingdale, N.Y.

Because Pladl had nowhere to stay in the Richmond area except a hotel, a Henrico judge amended the original order to allow Pladl to return to North Carolina to live with his mother until the trial.

Katie Pladl was born to Steven and Alyssa Pladl in 1998 and was adopted by a family out of state. When she turned 18, Katie contacted her birth parents through social media and indicated she wanted to get to know them.

In August 2016, Katie Pladl moved in with her biological parents and their two children, ages 6 and 11, in their home in the 1800 block of Locust Drive in Henrico.

Steven Pladl's wife moved out in November 2016 and, about five months later, she learned through a journal kept by one of their children that Katie was pregnant.

Authorities took out search warrants Jan. 31 seeking DNA samples from Steven and Katie Pladl and from the baby.

Henrico Commonwealth's Attorney Shannon Taylor said Friday that her office would move to have the charges dismissed against the father and daughter once Henrico authorities receive official confirmation that both are dead.

Taylor said a pretrial assessment of Steven Pladl's background showed no "red flags" that would warrant him being held pending trial. He had no criminal record and there "certainly was no indication from the investigation that there was any type of violence within that relationship."

"While we recognize at the time these decisions are being made that there were no risk indicators apparent, it would not be unusual if there were an intervening event," Taylor said. "It has been suggested by some sources that Katie had called off the relationship, and that could have been a trigger that no one could have foreseen. And that would have put him in a state of mind to commit these horrendous acts."

mbowes@timesdispatch.com(804) 649-6450