The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Couple found strangled in NW Atlanta house fire
A man and his wife were strangled before their northwest Atlanta house was set on fire Tuesday, police said.
Officials were dispatched to the scene in the 2400 block of Harvel Drive just before 4 a.m. They arrived within four minutes, not knowing if anyone was still inside, Atlanta fire Chief Randall Slaughter told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“It was a very fast response,” Slaughter said. “However, we encountered heavy fire upon our arrival . ... The structure was 50 percent involved.”
Firefighters put out the blaze and discovered the man in the hallway and the woman in the bedroom, according to Slaughter. Both were badly burned.
“They were covered in heavy debris,” he said. “So it took us awhile to uncover the victims.”
A medical examiner determined the cause of death to be strangulation and thermal injuries, Atlanta police homicide commander Lt. Carven Tyus said Tuesday.
Their names have not been released. A family member told Channel 2 Action News the man and woman were in their 60s and were veterans. They had been separated, but were reconciling, the news station reported.
Atlanta police homicide investigators were at the house Tuesday afternoon working alongside fire officials, Channel 2 reported.
“The two deaths in the house fire this morning on Harvel Drive have been ruled a homicide by (the) ME’s office,” Officer Stephanie Brown said in a statement. “APD Homicide will now take lead in investigation.