High cost of healthcare cited for suspected murder-suicide in Ferndale

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A Ferndale couple in their mid-seventies was found dead after an apparent murder-suicide that appears to have been motivated by the high cost of medical care.

On August 7 at 8:23 a.m., Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) deputies responded to the 6500 block of Timmerman Lane near Ferndale after a 77-year-old man called 911 and told the dispatcher, “I am going to shoot myself.”

The elderly man indicated that he had prepared a note for the sheriff with information and instructions. The dispatcher attempted to keep the caller on the line, but the man disconnected the call after saying, “We will be in the front bedroom.”

WCSO deputies arrived at the scene around 8:38 a.m. and set up a perimeter around the house. A crisis negotiator attempted to contact the occupants of the home over the phone and using a loudspeaker, and after an hour, deputies deployed a robot-mounted camera.

Inside the home, the elderly man was found deceased from a gunshot wound. He was lying next to his wife, age 76, who was also deceased from a gunshot wound.

“Sheriff’s office detectives and crime scene investigators are investigating the case as a likely murder-suicide,” said a WCSO news release on August 7. “Several notes were left citing severe ongoing medical problems with the wife and expressing concerns that the couple did not have sufficient resources to pay for medical care.”

In one of the notes, next of kin information was included, and WCSO detectives were working with out-of-state law enforcement to notify the next of kin before releasing the identity of the deceased couple.

Two dogs found within the residence were taken into custody and turned over to the humane society for care. “Numerous firearms” were also impounded for safekeeping, said the release.

“It is very tragic that one of our senior citizens would find himself in such desperate circumstances where he felt murder and suicide were the only option,” said Sheriff Bill Elfo. “Help is always available with a call to 911.”

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