The California property was the site of a four-person murder-suicide in October 2025

NEED TO KNOW

• A San Francisco home listed for $1.5 million has a tragic history involving a family murder-suicide that occurred less than six months ago
• Some buyers see the history as a chance to negotiate, while others are unsettled by the property’s past
• In California, realtors are required to disclose deaths on the property if they involve an occupant within the last three years

A charming San Francisco home located in the premier Westwood Highlands neighborhood has recently hit the market for $1.5 million. 

According to the listing, the three-bedroom, two-bathroom Mediterranean-style home “blends classic charm with bright, welcoming spaces and lovely southern views.” Inside, visitors will find newly refinished hardwood floors, fresh interior paint and all-new light fixtures in every room.  

But a look at the house won’t reveal its dark past. A family of four died in a murder-suicide there less than six months ago, according to the San Francisco Chronicle and The San Francisco Standard. 

The devastating incident occurred last October when four members of the same family were found dead inside the home. Thomas Ocheltree, 57, and his daughters, ages 9 and 12, were fatally shot while their mother, Paula Troung, 53, died by suicide. 

A motive has not been released publicly, but the family’s financial struggles in the years leading up to the incident have drawn attention. 

The outlets report the couple purchased the home for $1.35 million in 2014, but they later defaulted on a $2.24 million mortgage taken out in 2022. They eventually had to foreclose on their home in 2024. 

Hollis Bathen — the listing broker at Sotheby’s International Realty— tells the Standard she is upfront about disclosing the tragedy to potential buyers. “A majority of the people coming here don’t know until they get here,” Bathen says. “There’s a big buyer pool we will lose just for cultural reasons.”

Bathen says the gruesome details aren’t a bother to some. 

“We had two people who were like, you know, ‘I just want to bring some love into this house,’” she says. 

A househunter identified as Mike W., 59, tells the Standard homes in the area are “so f—ing expensive” that “something like that wouldn’t dissuade anyone.” 

But not everyone agrees.

“It definitely immediately changed the way we feel about it,” says one unidentified shopper who was touring the home with his wife.

In California, realtors are required to disclose any death relating to their properties if the deceased was an occupant of the house and if the death occurred within the past three years, according to the California Association of Realtors. If asked directly about any deaths on the property, a realtor must answer honestly, no matter how long ago it might have occurred. 

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Sejal Kotak, 34, visited the home with her husband and 8-month-old son during its open house on Sunday. While she admits to The Standard she was disturbed by the information, it didn’t change her perception of the house.

“We care about getting a good deal…Maybe it is a reason to negotiate,” she says, adding, “We don’t believe in ghosts.” 

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