Portrait of alleged gunman's family
Acquaintances: Nancy Lanza a personable neighbor
Author: By Michael Martinez and David Ariosto CNN
Published On: Dec 16 2012 11:18:03 AM EST
Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
NEWTOWN, Connecticut (CNN) -
The mother of the man identified by authorities as the gunman behind an elementary school massacre liked to play parlor games in a ladylike setting with neighbors, discussing their landscaping and backyard gardens in this charming exurb some 60 miles from New York City.
Nancy Lanza was a personable neighbor who lived on a block of spacious houses on a crest overlooking gentle hills, acquaintances said.
She and her family moved to the Sandy Hook neighborhood about 1998, raising two sons with husband Peter until the couple separated a few years ago.
"It was just a nice, normal family"
"It was just a nice, normal family," neighbor Rhonda Cullen said Saturday, recalling a recurring neighborhood ladies night over the Bunco dice game.
"We used to joke with her that she'd do all this landscaping that no one could see because it all was in the back, and because her house was so set back," added Cullen.
At odds with this image of New England gentility was how the Lanza household possessed a cache of weapons -- including an assault-style rifle and two handguns -- in a community prized for its stillness...
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/...mily/-/1719418/17795066/-/kb28sj/-/index.html