Police: Retired judge kills wife, self
Sunday, August 14, 2005 Posted: 1323 GMT (2123 HKT)
ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (AP) -- A retired state district judge and his wife were found dead in their home Saturday in what police said appeared to be a murder-suicide.
Homicide detectives said it appeared Gerald Cole shot his wife Nancy, 65, and then turned the gun on himself. They said a handgun was found near the bodies and there was no sign of a struggle or forced entry.
Police spokesman John Walsh said the bodies would be sent for autopsies.
Authorities were called to the home early Saturday after a pest exterminator on a routine visit spotted two bodies in the living room. Police were not sure how long the Coles had been dead.
The Albuquerque Journal reported that Nancy Cole filed a petition for divorce in June. The couple were married nearly 40 years.
Gerald Cole, 72, had retired in 1997 from the judgeship he had held in Bernalillo County for more than 16 years.
Nancy Cole was retired from the Albuquerque public school district.
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