Man Kills Himself In Deltona Home After Killing Wife & Burying Her In Yard

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Deltona, FL - Update - 5/19/17: The remains found in the yard of a Deltona man who killed himself and left a note saying he had killed his wife and buried her in the yard have been identified.

VCSO says the body has been positively identified as 75-year-old Gail Caulfield, the wife of Laurence Caulfield, 75, who fatally shot himself on May 9.

Update - 5/12/17: An autopsy was completed on May 12 on the female victim whose remains were found in the yard on Canterbury Street. It was determined that the victim died as the result of a gunshot wound. The Sheriff’s Office Major Case Unit is continuing efforts to positively identify the victim.

Update - 5/11/17: VCSO has found a body buried in the yard of a Deltona man who killed himself and left a note saying he killed and buried his wife on their property.

Detectives will be working with the medical examiner's office to positively identify the body.

Update - 5/10/17: According to the VCSO, on Tuesday night, May 9, just before 10:30 PM, Laurence Caulfield, 75, took his own life while deputies were on scene investigating and inside his house was a written note claiming he had killed his ailing wife and buried her in the backyard.

The VCSO reports the following:

A call Tuesday night from a concerned relative asking deputies to check on the welfare of the elderly Deltona couple ended in tragedy when Caulfield took his own life and it was discovered that he could be one-half of a murder-suicide.

Deputies were dispatched to the residence on Canterbury Street after a relative called from out of state at about 9:15 PM Tuesday night, saying she hadn't talked to the Caulfields in several months.

On Tuesday, the relative received a disturbing package in the mail from Laurence Caulfield that contained the couple's will and life insurance policy along with other financial information and contact information for the couple's doctors. The package contained a letter from Caulfield saying that his wife had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease and that he was struggling to cope, both physically and emotionally.

"He also has guns in the house, and I'm concerned," the caller told the Sheriff's Office call-taker. "The way it's been written is a concern - a strong concern."

Deputies arrived at the residence and spoke to Caulfield, who confirmed that his wife had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and claimed that he had moved her to Kansas City to live with friends of the family. When deputies asked how they could get in contact with his wife, Caulfield said his daughter in New York had all the information. But when deputies spoke to the daughter, she said she didn't know anything about her mother moving to Kansas City. The daughter later was able to make contact with her father, who said that his wife was asleep in the house.

With concerns heightened, deputies began pounding on the door, but no one answered. Shortly afterwards, at about 10:27 PM, deputies heard a gunshot coming from the rear of the house and rushed to the backyard to find Caulfield on the ground with a gunshot wound and a gun by his side. When deputies entered the residence to look for his wife, they found a small stack of papers which included the note from Caulfield.

Caulfield was taken to Halifax Health Medical Center in Deltona, where he was pronounced dead at 11:30 PM. Deputies staged at the house overnight to preserve the scene. Wednesday morning, Sheriff's detectives obtained a search warrant and have begun looking for remains in the backyard.

Earlier reporting: A man killed himself on Tuesday night at a home in Deltona and left a suicide note that said his wife's body was buried in the backyard.

Volusia County Sheriff's Office deputies went to the home on Canterbury St just after 9 PM after getting a call for a well-being check.

Investigators don't know if the claims are true, but VCSO will search the yard.

The identities of the couple involved haven't been released yet.

More on this story at WESH 2 News.

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