Lee County man accused in murder-suicide plot pleading not guilty

FORT MYERS, Fla.- A Lee County father arrested in connection with the tragic killings of his family at the Iona Lakes Apartments complex is pleading not guilty.

Patrick Carlopoli, 27, is charged with second-degree murder for the death of his girlfriend, 37-year-old Tammy Modlin, and two counts of conspiracy to commit second-degree murder for the deaths of Montana Modlin, 16, and Jeanne Carlopoli, 3.

The bodies of Carlopoli’s girlfriend and the two children were found early in the morning on January 24 after Carlopoli contacted emergency dispatchers. Deputies say the killings were part of a murder-suicide plot but Carlopoli was unable to go through with taking his own life.