A man taken into custody yesterday after four bodies were discovered at his in-laws' Scarborough home was released without charges early this morning.

James Tompkins was taken in for questioning by police yesterday morning just across the street from the house at 12 Welwyn Ave.

Neighbours said Tompkins was seen driving up and down the quiet residential street at around 7:30 a.m. They later saw him get out of his Suzuki Sidekick and speak to a police officer before being escorted to a cruiser and driven away.

Tompkins is the husband of Elizabeth Tompkins, who is believed to be among the dead. Her parents, homeowners Keith and Wanda Delong, and their son Richard Delong are also believed to be dead.

A handwritten note reading, "Do not enter, call police," was taped to the front door of the Delong's home yesterday morning.

Police have not released the victims' names, saying only the incident appears to be one of family violence.

"It's shocking," said Seth Rogers, who said he has lived next to the family for more than 30 years. "It's terrible. They were quiet, nice people."

"I seen (Tompkins) weeping and the cops came and took him under arrest, in handcuffs," Rogers said. "He just kept looking over at the house."

Earlier, Rogers had grown suspicious as he got ready to go to work around 7:30 a.m. It was the unusual quiet about the Delong residence that caught his attention.

"There was no noise," he said. "Keith usually comes out and feeds his birds and walks the dog."

Yellow police tape cordoned off a block of homes on Welwyn Ave. yesterday. Similar tape was strung around a Whitby apartment complex where Tompkins and his wife own an apartment. Neighbours said they had been married for a couple of years, but had been together for more than a decade.

Tompkins, a welder, bought the apartment in 1997, then added Elizabeth to the title in 2003, using her maiden name.

Her Suzuki Sidekick was parked in front of her parents' bungalow yesterday. Tompkins's Sidekick was parked just in front of it.

Neighbours on Welwyn Ave. said Elizabeth had arrived at her parents' home on Tuesday evening to help them get ready for a last-minute trip to Mexico, where her 92-year-old grandmother is dying.

The grandmother, who lives in Mexico, broke her hip several months ago, but took a turn for the worse in the past few weeks, said neighbour and close friend Peter Lemonides.

He said Keith Delong had asked him two days ago to look out for their son Richard, 30, who lived at home and had a chronic illness, described as a "degenerative bone disease." The parents had planned to be gone for a week or two.

"It's unbelievable," Lemonides said of the tragedy in his quiet neighbourhood. "I didn't hear anything. ... I'm the one in the neighbourhood who knows what's going on. And I was closest with them. And I didn't hear anything."

When he went to bed Tuesday night, Lemonides didn't see Tompkins' vehicle out front. He assumes it arrived in the early morning.

While Tompkins was at 43 Division police station yesterday, a woman identifying herself as his sister said her brother hadn't heard from his wife Tuesday night and got worried, so he drove to Toronto to check on her. That's when he found the note, she said, and called police.

Back on Welwyn Ave., still reeling from the news, neighbours sifted through their memories of the family for clues.

As for the parents, Keith, a retired IBM employee, and Wanda, a homemaker, were "wonderful people," their neighbours said. Wanda's family is from Quebec while Keith's family lives in the United States.

Tidy, quiet and friendly, they would walk their caramel-coloured poodle Charlotte and help friends with odd jobs around the home and yard, such as cutting hedges or mending broken doors.

"And they loved to go camping," Lemonides said. "Real outdoor people. They had a trailer they would use."

The couple, who had guns on display in their home, were avid fisherman and nature lovers, Lemonides added.

Brenda Whynot, who lives down the street, said Keith and Wanda brought over warm cookies when they moved in nearly three years ago - they were "that kind of people."

"They seemed to be one happy little family," she said. "They were great people."

She added that in the last few months the family had been clearing out their home, selling furniture and other household paraphernalia.

Neighbour Philip Matthew said Keith had been dropping off chandeliers and other items at his home, where he runs a small recycling business.

"They were getting rid of a lot of stuff," Whynot said of the Delongs. "It wasn't typical."

Others suggested the couple was running out of money.

On Sept. 30, the Delongs remortgaged for $240,000 the house they had bought in 1974.

No one on the street heard any unusual noise Tuesday night - no gunshots, no screams - and they were all horrified by the news.

Police canvassed the area yesterday and spent time scouring the Delongs' back porch where a large saw hung down from the floor.

"Keith was so tidy," Rogers said. "He never would have left that saw like that. It's weird."

-- Michele Henry is a crime reporter for the Toronto Star