Written by Steve Frank
Wednesday, 26 January 2011 02:52 PM
Ashe County investigators are looking into the death of a husband and wife in what might have been either a murder-suicide or a suicide pact.
Sheriff James Williams said a landlord was concerned that no one had been seen at the 466 Rustic Acres Road property off of NC 163 for at least several days, lights on day and night, and an Ashe deputy was dispatched for a welfare check on the couple. There the officer found the dog in distress, unfed, and he called for back-up to make entry. Inside, the bodies of 49-year old Robert Parise and his wife, Linda Ann, 58, were found. Fire department air packs were needed to work inside the residence due to the level of decay, and the SBI was called to the scene. Sheriff Williams said there was no sign of trauma, no evidence of theft or forced entry, leading investigators to believe a double suicide or murder-suicide might be the cause. The sheriff said that the couple was known to have some financial troubles and there were reports of prescription drug abuse. Pills were found in the house—pills that might have been the cause of death. The bodies were sent to Chapel Hill for autopsy and toxicology reports, the latter to take several weeks. Sheriff Williams said that the probe will remain open pending those reports.
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