India, April 21 -- The stress-laden Army veteran who brutally murdered seven of his children along with one of their cousins in Louisiana on Sunday was scheduled to confront his estranged wife in divorce court on Monday.

Shamar Elkins, 31, reached out to his mother, Mahelia Elkins, and stepfather Marcus Jackson on Easter Sunday to inform them that his wife of two years, Shaneiqua Pugh, had initiated divorce proceedings. He even expressed his desire to take his own life, revealing that he was engulfed in "dark thoughts," reported the New York Times.

Jackson recounted that he advised his troubled stepson that he could surmount his difficulties if he remained resilient.

Elkins subsequently shot the eight children in an execution-style man...