A Brock university professor and his wife were found dead in their backyard Tuesday, mere weeks after accusations surfaced that the pair was involved in a multi-million-dollar tax fraud scheme in the U.S.

Niagara Regional Police were called to the Pelham home of professor Jonathan Neufeld, 59, and his wife, Christina Starkbaum, 57, after a concerned family member called police.

Police found their bodies in the woods after a short search behind the house at 1190 Centre St.

Their deaths are believed to be the result of a suicide pact, police said.

"I can't give out the details of how we can know that through the investigation, but we have been authorized to say that by the family," Const. Rich Gadreau told the Star.

The couple's deaths come just weeks after they were indicted alongside five other Canadians for an alleged international tax return fraud scheme.

The seven Canadians allegedly worked together to defraud the American government of $9 million by filing at least 18 fake non-resident federal income tax returns, the U.S. Attorney's Office said following the Sept. 5 indictment.

At least $3.5 million made its way from the IRS to Canada in the form of cheques, the report said.

Members of the group allegedly crossed the border between 2009 and 2010 to set up bank accounts in the U.S. From there, the money was transferred to various banks in the U.S. and Canada, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

The full indictment claims that Neufeld made two false tax returns that totaled more than $1.6 million.

Altogether, the alleged fraudsters face 19 counts of various charges, including conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service, stealing government funds, filing false claims against the United States and transporting money taken by fraud in foreign commerce.

If convicted, the accused could face between five and 10 years in prison, a fine of $250,000 or both.

Niagara police would not connect the dots between the couple's international indictment and their suicides.

"There's nothing we can say about a link as far as motive, and the people who can tell us aren't here now," Gadreau said.

Neufeld, who holds a PhD, was an associate professor in Brock's education department and taught classes to both undergraduate and graduate students. He had worked for the university since 1995 and made $134,271.49 in 2012, according to Ontario's sunshine list.

Neufeld was still an active faculty member at the school, teaching one graduate level class this September.

The university said it is "saddened" by Neufeld's death and offered condolences to the family in a statement.

"On behalf of the entre Faculty of Education community we mourn the death of a fine scholar," said the department's dean, Fiona Blaikie.

A neighbour who lived across the street from the couple described them as "extremely private" ever since they moved in eight years ago.

"They would say hello to you if you saw them outside getting the mail, but no one really knew them very well," said Ruth Morgan, who has lived on Centre St. for 13 years.

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Neufeld was known to drive a Mercedes, a fact that didn't seem uncommon for a university professor, Morgan said.

Nothing seemed particularly out of the ordinary when police cruisers pulled in front of the couple's home Tuesday morning.

"I wasn't aware of what happened until much later on," Morgan said.