The Highland Park Department of Public Safety is awaiting the results of John Rodman Steele’s toxicology report from the medical examiner’s office to find out if there are any currently unknown factors that caused the situation, which led to his death.

The toxicology reports are expected to be released in a "few weeks," according to Sgt. Lance Koppa, a spokesperson for Highland Park.

“There are a lot of unanswered questions that our investigators have,” Koppa said. “The situation that happened at the Steele home was a complete shock.”

Highland Park resident John Steele attacked his wife with a knife while she was sleeping in their bedroom around 4:20 a.m. on July 11, but she was able to defend herself with the help of their 16-year-old son. Steele, 50, then went to the kitchen and took his own life.

The medical examiner’s toxicology report could possibly reveal that something undetermined by the initial investigation played a role in Steele’s behavior, Koppa said.

“Any death investigation can have something else contributing, which the medical examiner’s office can determine,” Koppa said.

Jack Swallow, a resident of Midland, which is John's hometown, said the behavior Steele exhibited before his death was uncharacteristic of him and has left his friends and family in shock, according to a Letter to the Editor, which Swallow sent to the Dallas Morning News several days after the situation occurred.

"Family and friends closest to (John Steele) suspect that he experienced an unprecedented altering complication from prescription medication that manifested itself in actions unthinkable to anyone who knew him," Swallow said. "They certainly would have been unthinkable to Rod himself in his normal state of mind."

In the past, there have been reports of people acting violently after taking certain prescription medications, such as antidepressants and sleeping pills.

Sixty-year-old David Leeman of Devon reportedly shot his wife five times in Sept. 2011, killing her, which may have been caused by a negative reaction to prescription anti-anxiety drugs.

In April 2009, 22-year-old Andrew McClay, a resident Littleton, Colo., allegedly murdered his friend, Nicole Burns, at his apartment while he was under the influence of five prescription sleeping pills in addition to non-prescription pain pills and whiskey, according to reports. McClay said he could not remember what happened after the incident occurred.

Prince Adams, a 29-year resident of Memphis, Tenn., reportedly used a pocketknife to stab his girlfriend 27 times while on prescription sleeping pills in April 2006. Adams said he dreamt his girlfriend was cheating on him while on the prescription drug, which caused his actions.

Until the toxicology reports are released, members of the community and those who were close to John will be left wondering what exactly caused the situation to unfold as it did.

"What led to those events may have been caused by my brother's body, but they were not caused by his heart," said Kelly Steele, who is John's younger brother.