NEWFANE-Vermont State Police said autopsies have revealed the deaths of two people whose bodies were found on Oct. 25 at a home in Newfane were caused by gunshot wounds, and that one died of homicide and the other suicide.
The Vermont Chief Medical Examiner's Office in Burlington identified the two people as Blake Prescott, 91, and Helen Prescott, 88, a married couple, according to a press release late Monday afternoon from the state police.
Their bodies were found at their South Wardsboro Road residence on Oct. 25.
Police said the medical examiner determined Helen Prescott's cause of death was gunshot wounds to the torso. Her manner of death was ruled a homicide, the release added.
The medical examiner found the cause of Blake Prescott's death was a gunshot wound to the chest, according to the release, and his manner of death was suicide.
The press release added, "the Prescott family asked the Vermont State Police to tell the public that Blake and Helen shared a lifetime of love and commitment to each other."
In a statement provided through state police, the family said, "As a devoted couple of more than 70 years, who had recently experienced precipitously declining health, they chose to die together as they'd lived together."
State police said the investigation remains ongoing.
This News item by Alan J. Keays originally appeared in VTDigger and was republished in The Commons with permission.