Maine State Police, working with the Somerset Sheriff's Office, said March 31 that the deaths of a husband and wife from Norridgewock appear to be a domestic violence murder-suicide. 

 

The couple was found dead inside their Route 2 home Saturday morning. 

 

Dead are William Hale, 62, and his wife, Marie Lancaster-Hale, 58.  Also found dead was the family dog. All appear to have died from gunshot wounds and were found in the laundry room. 

 

Hale called the sheriff's office at 7:17 a.m. to say there would be two bodies at his house when deputies arrived.  He also said there would be an elderly woman at the home who would need care.  Hale's 87 year old mother,  Faye Hale, who lived at the house, was found unharmed sitting in a vehicle in the driveway.

 

Hale had assisted his mother to get the vehicle and then returned to the house, where he shot himself, police said in a March 31 news release.  She was taken to a hospital for medical evaluation. A handgun and a shotgun were recovered from inside the home.

 

The bodies were transported to the State Medical Examiner's Office in Augusta for examination.