news, local-news,

The bodies of prominent Bathurst businessman Elie Issa and a woman understood to be aged in her 50s have been found inside a house in an apparent murder suicide. Mr Issa was a widely respected restauranteur in Bathurst. He owns Elie's Cafe where he has previously hosted former Governor-General Quentin Bryce and Australian rugby league star Brent Tate. Police and paramedics were called to the house on Rosemont Avenue in Kelso, a suburb of Bathurst, at 11.15am on Friday to reports that the two bodies were inside. "We woke up to centimetres of snow and a shooting, you never expect that," said a neighbour who asked not to be named. "Most days I would see Mr Issa sitting by the front counter talking to customers at his coffee shop, huddled over the papers, having a yarn." Another neighbour, Gary Knight, said news of the shooting in the street was a shock. "[Mr Issa] was a steady sort of a guy, a really popular fella and a very good businessman," he said. Mr Issa, who was aged in his mid-50's, was in the midst of expanding his Bathurst cafe, which has been an institution for the past decade as the go-to hang out diner for university students and local business people. Six months ago he bought a crepe restaurant upstairs from his cafe, which he had recently begun refurbishing. It is understood Mr Isa has a son and a daughter from a previous marriage. Officers attached to the Chifley Local Area Command have set up a crime scene at the property. Another neighbour said officers had "taped off the whole house" and part of the same side of the street, while family members had started arriving at the house.

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