Steve Lieberman

slieberm@lohud.com

WESLEY HILLS - A longtime married couple known for walking the neighborhood with their dog died Thursday morning in what police said was a murder-suicide.

John Lord shot his wife in their bedroom, then shot himself on their back porch after calling police to their Deerwood Road on Thursday morning, authorities said.

The 65-year-old Lord told police during a 911 call just before 7:11 a.m. that he had killed his wife, Irene, 63, Ramapo police Detective Lt. Mark Emma said. Lord then went to the rear porch of their high-ranch house, Emma said.

When officers arrived minutes later, they heard a gunshot from the back of the house and yelled for the shooter to disarm, Emma said. The officers then heard a second shot and saw Lord stumble into the dining room.

They found Lord with a gunshot wound to the head and his wife dead near their bed, also from a shot to the head, Emma said. John Lord died en route to a hospital, police said.

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Police said the gun, a .38-caliber revolver, was registered to Irene Lord.

During a news conference at the Ramapo police station, town Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence said neighbors told police they always saw the Lords walking the neighborhood hand in hand with their black Labrador.

The couple had no children but had relatives in Florida and Connecticut. Police said John Lord was self employed and sometimes worked as a landscaper.

"This is a tragedy," St. Lawrence said.

Emma, who is overseeing the investigation, said there was no suicide note or indication as to what prompted the incident. He said police knew of no history of domestic violence involving the couple.

Police said there was no immediate indication either of the Lords had been ill. They were checking to see if the couple had financial problems.

Their dog has been turned over to animal control and will be handed off to relatives, police said.

Irene Lord had a second handgun registered in her name; police said, and there were also several rifles, archery equipment and a spear gun at the house.

Investigators from the Rockland County Bureau of Criminal Investigation assisted at the scene.

This was the second murder-suicide in Ramapo in the last few months. In October a former police officer shot his wife then killed himself at their Sloatsburg home.

The New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services has recorded 390 intimate partner homicides statewide from 2010-2014, with 14 percent of those incidents being murder-suicides, said Christina Vitolo, coordinator of community relations and services for Rockland Center for Safety & Change. The center, formerly the Rockland Family Shelter, advocates for families of domestic violence.

Center Executive Director Elizabeth Santiago called the murder-suicide a terrible tragedy for the family and community. Santiago represents domestic violence programs on the New York State Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team, created in October 2012.

"Domestic violence is often a crime that is perpetrated without people outside of the relationship being aware of a pattern of abuse or power and control being used by one partner against the other," Santiago said. "Perpetrators make deliberate choices to conceal their violence from outsiders. Oftentimes the only person who sees the abusive side of the perpetrator is the victim.”

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Map: Wesley Hills murder-suicide





Twitter: @lohudlegal