Samantha Keosykhao couldn’t keep from crying Wednesday as she walked out of Jenkins Funeral Home, where she paid her respects to the family of her friend Pauline Chao.

Hundreds came to the Newton funeral home between 2 and 7 p.m. to honor four family members who were murdered in their Conover home on March 12.

Police say the man responsible for the deaths of Lisa Phan and her children, Melanie, Pauline and Cody, is dead after an incident early Wednesday morning. However, the news offers little comfort to those who miss them.

Brian Tzeo, Phan’s husband and father of the children, wanted a long memorial service to give everyone the opportunity to come by who wanted to, said Carl Jenkins, owner of Jenkins Funeral Home and Cremation Service.

Keosykhao felt compelled to attend, as did many other friends, family members and members of the community.

Keosykhao had been best friends with Chao since elementary school. She said they were always together.

“She was everything I could ask for in a friend,” Keosykhao said through weary, tear-soaked eyes. “We used to hang out every day.”

As neighbors in the Millstone development, they were always over at each other’s homes, talking and spending as much time together as possible.

Time together became even more precious after Keosykhao graduated in 2008 from Bunker Hill High School, one year before Chao was due to graduate from the same Claremont school.

Chao was the one friend that Keosykhao felt she could confide in completely. That’s why they were best friends.

“She’s kinda weird,” she said. “That’s why we matched well together.”

She continues to wear a purple ribbon in Chao’s honor. Purple was her favorite color.

Mortel Coulter is still in disbelief his girlfriend of four years, 20-year-old Melanie Saephan, is dead.

“I thought someone was joking with me,” he said of the morning he found out about the murders.

He sat next to Saephan’s father in the chapel, to comfort the man who lost his wife and three children in one morning.  

Coulter said the last week has been exceptionally hard for him.

“I haven’t been able to sleep. I can’t eat,” he said.

Saephan was more than a girlfriend, but his best friend, too.

“She loved me for who I was,” he said.

Coulter was close with the whole family and adored Saephan’s 4-year-old brother, Cody. The two were buddies, said his brother, Khalfani Coulter.

Mortel said he’s clinging to his family as he tries to pull through. His brother said it’s getting a little easier for Mortel every day.

“She was a great person, a loveable person and a bright person,” he said of his girlfriend.

Law enforcement officers in plainclothes ensured the safety of those who attended the memorial service.