Detectives investigating possible murder-suicide in Deltona
DELTONA, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Volusia County deputies investigated a murder-suicide case on Tuesday night, after an elderly man killed his sick wife and then himself.
Volusia County Sheriff's Office reported that they sent a few deputies to an elderly couple's Deltona residence when an out-of-state relative called out of concern on Tuesday night. The relative had not spoken to the couple, the Caulfield's, in several months.
The relative had also received a disturbing package from the husband, 75-year-old Laurence Caulfield, that contained the couple's will and life insurance policy along with other financial information and contact information for the couple's doctors.
The package even contained a letter from Caulfield saying that his wife had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease and that he was struggling to cope, both physically and emotionally.
"He also has guns in the house, and I'm concerned," the relative told the Sheriff's Office call-taker. "The way it's been written is a concern -- a strong concern."
Upon arrival of the residence, deputies reported speaking to Caulfield who confirmed that his wife had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and claimed that he had her moved to Kansas City to live with friends of the family. Deputies asked how they could contact his wife, to which Caulfield said that his daughter that lives in New Jersey had all of the information.
Deputies then reported speaking to the daughter, but she said that she did not know anything about her mother moving to Kansas City. The daughter later made contact with her father, who said that his wife was asleep in the house.
The deputies said they then began to pound on the door of the home, but no one answered. Shortly afterwards, deputies heard gunshots coming from the rear of the house. They rushed to the backyard to find Caulfield on the ground with a gunshot wound and a gun by his side. Deputies then entered the residence to look for his wife. This is when they found a small stack of papers, which included the note from Caulfield. The note stated that the husband he had killed his ailing wife and buried her in the backyard.
Caulfield was taken to Halifax Health Medical Center in Deltona, where he was pronounced dead. Sheriff’s detectives obtained a search warrant and have begun looking for remains in the backyard.