Coquina Crossing, FL: Couple dies in apparent murder and suicide case

Left a note saying medical condition caused the decision
Posted: September 16, 2010 - 12:08am

By JUSTINE GRIFFIN
An elderly husband and wife died in an apparent murder-suicide at their Elkton home in Coquina Crossing, according to a St. Johns County Sheriff's Office report.

Deputies responded to the mobile home neighborhood off State Road 207 around 8 p.m. on Tuesday after Stephen Perham Jewett, 71, called the sheriff's office and said he shot his wife and could be found outside in the back yard, the report said.

Investigators found Dorothea K. Jewett, 68, dead inside the house at 5849 Mora Place and her husband dead outside. They died from gunshot wounds, the report said.

Detectives reportedly found the gun near Stephen Jewett outside. A note left inside the house said that a medical condition was what caused the couple to commit the murder-suicide, the report said.

A nearby neighbor said Dorothea Jewett had been in and out of the hospital recently, suffering from bipolar disorder. The neighbor said the Jewetts kept to themselves and most in the neighborhood did not know them well.

Neighbors believed the couple was originally from California but they had been renting a home in Coquina Crossing since the summer of 2008.