Florida Double Murder-Suicide: Woman Kills Husband, Special Needs Son Before Shooting Self

In a double murder-suicide case in Florida, bodies of three people were found inside a home Tuesday morning.

Police said a pool service employee reported a foul odor coming from the Clermont home, following which the bodies were discovered.

“Based upon the preliminary observations of the scene, it appears that this may be a double murder-suicide,” Lake County sheriff’s Lt. John Herrell said in an email to news outlet Click Orlando.

Herrell said the woman, who was not identified, fatally shot her husband and their special needs son before turning the gun on herself.

During the investigation, the police found documents at home that hinted the woman had been planning to kill her family.

“It is very sad. Yeah, it’s one of those cases that I just hate to see. It’s heartbreaking and we wish there could have been a better way around whatever the family was dealing with but yeah, very tragic, very sad especially this time of year, no doubt,” Herrell said, Click Orlando reported.

The woman and her husband were in their 70s, while their son was in his 50s, police said, citing records. Authorities added the three were seen about three weeks ago when the husband returned home after receiving treatment at a hospital.

“I’m not sure what kind of health issues he had but he apparently had some significant health issues,” Herrell said.

The residents were not seen by the neighbors recently, the sheriff’s office said, adding it remains unclear when they died. The investigation was active and no other details were immediately available. The motive behind the murder-suicide also remained unclear.

In another recent murder-suicide incident, police officers were called to a home where they found bodies of a woman and her three young children.

The unidentified woman was said to be 27 years old, and her two children were aged three and 10, the Smyth County Sheriff’s Office said. A 6-year-old injured child, who was found inside the house, was flown to Johnson City Medical Center in Tennessee in critical condition but later died, police said.

An 8-year-old child was also present at the scene, but escaped, the police added.