Danbury police investigate October murder-suicide

DANBURY — City police continue to investigate a murder- suicide that happened in October, but few details have been released on the incident.

Chief Patrick Ridenhour said Tuesday the man and woman “both were ailing” and described the incident as “a mercy thing.”

“It wasn’t a violent domestic or anything like that. It was just people in a lot of pain and seeing no way out,” he said.

Police did not issue a news release nor post about the incident on social media “out of respect for the family under the circumstances.” Ridenhour spoke about the incident with The News-Times after a review of a recently released annual crime report showed a homicide had occurred in October.

No police report is available yet, as the investigation is deemed ongoing.

Police have not released the names of the individuals who died, only stating it was an elderly couple found in one of Danbury’s condominium complexes on Oct. 22. A couple matching the description with a last known address of the Sterling Woods condominium complex off Nabby Road had their names read during a virtual vigil held by CT Against Gun Violence last month.

According to the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, the couple died from gunshot wounds to the head. The man’s death was ruled a suicide, while the woman’s was ruled a homicide.

Danbury had three other homicides last year.

The first occurred March 18, when 21-yearold Willy Placencia was stabbed multiple times during a brawl at the Danbury City Center Skate Park.

Three months later, 60-year- old Ricardo Uruchima was beaten to death near the intersection of Maple Avenue and Garamella Boulevard. The fatal assault occurred the evening of June 23, and Uruchima’s body was discovered the following day.

The third homicide of the year occurred July 12, when 39-year-old Raymond Irvin Simmons, of Waterbury, was fatally shot during an outdoor vigil on Beaver Street.