Sunday, April 11, 2010

Tampa, FL: Couple found dead in apparent murder-suicide

By Robbyn Mitchell, Times Staff Writer

Published Saturday, April 10, 2010

TAMPA — Deputies say a maintenance worker discovered the bodies of a husband and wife inside an apartment Saturday morning, apparent victims of a murder-suicide that occurred about two weeks ago.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said it appears the husband shot his wife and then turned the gun on himself in a bedroom at 14022 Halstead Court in Ascott Place Apartment Homes. They were found at 10:15 a.m. when the worker came by to check on the residents of the complex, which is near the University of South Florida. Family members have not been notified, so the Sheriff's Office has declined to identify the couple.

Next-door neighbor Richard Keeley said he saw a late rent notice taped to the couple's door and became concerned when it wasn't taken down.

"I didn't hear anything but I thought, 'Wow their car hasn't moved in a while,' " the 61-year-old recalled.

The older couple was quiet but kind, Keeley said, and they'd moved into the ground floor apartment next to his in the past year.

A faint odor appeared yesterday, Keeley said, but he never thought it was because someone had died.

"I won't even speculate on what happened," he said. "They were nice people."

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