Carbon Monoxide Poisoning—

Elderly Couple Die In Homicide/Suicide

By Andrew Gorosko

Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the untimely deaths of an elderly couple, who police found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning at their 42 Great Hill Road home on the morning of Sunday, November 27.

Death certificates submitted by the state medical examiner’s office indicate that both Charles Michael Kelley, Jr, 69, and his wife Elaine Julia Kelley, 68, died of carbon monoxide poisoning due to the inhalation of automobile exhaust.

Mrs Kelley’s death is listed as a homicide. Mr Kelley’s death is listed as a suicide. The documents state that Mrs Kelley had Alzheimer’s disease.

Police were alerted by a neighbor that something was probably amiss at the Kelley residence, so they responded to the scene to check the property at about 9:03 am November 27.

On arriving, police encountered the Kelleys, both dead, inside a pickup truck that was inside their attached garage that had its door closed, according to Police Chief Michael Kehoe.

Mr Kelley was found at the steering wheel, and Mrs Kelley was in the passenger seat, Chief Kehoe said.

Lieutenant James Mooney was the officer in charge of the police patrol unit’s investigation at the scene. The lieutenant heads the police department’s operations division.

It is unclear how long the Kelleys were dead before their bodies were discovered, Chief Kehoe said, adding they “apparently had been dead for a while.”

“We looked at that as a double suicide, initially,” he said.

Police called an agent from the chief state medical examiner’s office to the Great Hill Road home to aid in the investigation, Chief Kehoe said.

Asked to comment on whether Mr Kelley killed his wife and also killed himself, Chief Kehoe said, “I’m going to wait for the entire investigation to be concluded…I would rather just wait until all the evidence is in…I want to see the entire case investigation.” Police are awaiting the results of toxicology tests, he said.

Police are seeking to learn the time when the deaths occurred, according to the police chief.

Chief Kehoe said that a note was found at the scene of the deaths, but he refused to disclose its contents. “The note does not help us determine the sequence of events,” he said.

“This family has suffered a double tragedy during the holiday season,” Chief Kehoe said of the Kelleys’ surviving kin, who live elsewhere.

“Two people are dead from carbon monoxide poisoning…It’s tragic,” he said.

“We’re looking into all aspects of the causes of the deaths of these two people…We are trying to piece together what occurred,” he said.

Police investigated at the scene for several hours.