ASHFORD, Ala. — Authorities in Houston County say a murder-suicide involving an elderly couple appears to have been prearranged.

Officials from the Houston County coroner's and sheriff's offices told the Dothan Eagle that evidence uncovered during a preliminary investigation suggests that 91-year-old Laurence Dantzer agreed to assist in the death of his 88-year-old wife Phyllis Dantzer before taking his own life.

The two were found fatally shot in their single-story home in the Lovetown neighborhood early Saturday morning.