North Londonderry, PA: Woman, man found dead in their home

They apparently died of gunshot wounds in a murder-suicide, Lebanon County authorities say. The deaths leave neighbors 'dumbfounded.'
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
BY BARBARA MILLER AND LAUREN BOYER barbmiller@patriot-news.com
The North Londonderry Twp. community was quiet Monday night, as neighbors say it normally is.

But around 12:30 p.m. Monday, police found a man and woman dead of apparent gunshot wounds at a home on Palmyra-Bellegrove Road.

Lebanon County District Attorney David Arnold described the incident as an apparent murder-suicide. North Londonderry Twp. police called it an isolated incident and said neighbors shouldn't fear for their safety.


Police said they discovered a 40-year-old man and a 35-year-old woman in the home. At press time, the names of the deceased were being withheld pending notification of family members, police said.

The Lebanon County coroner's office planned autopsies, police said.

Early Monday night, lights were lit on the third story and the back porch of the home where the shootings occurred. Smoke curled from the chimney.

"We're dumbfounded," neighbor Richard Engle said. He said he didn't know anything had happened until police came to the house asking questions about the couple.

Engle said he saw the man's father come to the house, "and the next thing we knew, there were police cars."

Engle said he didn't know the couple.

"They more or less kept to themselves," he said.

Neighbor Matt Rinehart said his wife was home in the afternoon when police were on the scene and interviewing neighbors.

"You see that kind of stuff on TV. It's a little distressful to know it happened across the street," Rinehart said.

Rinehart said he didn't know the couple, describing his contact with them as a wave across Palmyra-Bellegrove Road. The couple lived there for several years. They moved in after a woman who had lived there for many years sold the property.

North Londonderry Twp. police and the Lebanon County detectives were investigating the shootings.

The apparent murder-suicide would be the second in Lebanon County in four months.

In October, Meleanie Hain of Lebanon was shot and killed by her husband, Scott, who then took his own life, Lebanon police said.

Hain gained national attention as an advocate for gun owners' rights when she openly carried a handgun to her 5-year-old daughter's soccer game. She lost her gun permit, but won a court battle to get the permit back.