Details of the killings remain limited, as Nepalese tradition and the nation’s constitution place the royal family above official reproach. Government officials have privately identified Dev’s son, Crown Prince Dipendra, as the perpetrator. Dipendra also took his own life in the killing.

Rumors swirled in the Nepalese population, many of whom did not believe any explanations given by the Nepalese government. Many denied that Dipendra was in fact the murderer and suspected that the murders were an effort for another branch of the family to reach the throne.

Trust in the government’s explanation was particularly low after one leading government official Sunday blamed the 10 deaths on “accidental” machine gun fire.

The killings have led to public riots in the country and a government-imposed curfew.

The tragic end of Dev’s life came as a shock to all who knew him at Harvard, many of whom were invited to his coronation in 1975.

“I’m completely shocked,” Kavogo says. “I’m extremely sorry for him.”

Shah, Dev’s son-in-law, also seemed to view Harvard as a reprieve from the weighty duties of state facing him in Nepal.

“I think he was happy to be away from the whole royal thing in Nepal,” says David P. Kubiak, head of Kirkland’s senior common room in 1979.