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Murder-Suicide Shocks Rockland As New Details Emerge

WESLEY HILLS, N.Y. -- Residents of this quiet village are struggling to absorb the shocking details of an early morning murder/suicide at 2 Deerwood Road. John Lord, 65, killed himself after fatally shooting his wife, Irene Lord, police said.

Irene and John Lord's house

Irene and John Lord's house

Photo Credit: Google maps

Neighbors along this street of mostly Orthodox Jews responded to the tragedy that occurred just after 7 a.m. Monday.

"I did not know them, but I am shocked," said Michael Chasen. "I used to see them every so often, mostly walking their dogs. They liked to keep to themselves."

The Lords, a childless couple, had lived at the location for more than a decade, but few people seem to have known them. 

"I did not know the people involved and have no idea of the motivations behind the crime, but I am sure you are as upset as I am that our quiet community has taken a hit with this loss," said Wesley Hills Mayor Marshall Katz, in an email he sent to residents. "Let us all hope that this is the last such tragedy for our community. My prayers go out to the relatives of the family."

Ramapo Police Chief Brad Weidel said officers responded to a call from John Lord at 7:11 a.m. Police said Lord told him he had shot his wife. Responding officers saw Lord, 65, headed toward the home's back porch and heard a gunshot.

They yelled to him to put his gun down, identifying themselves as police, then heard a second shot and saw Lord stumble into the dining room. They found Lord suffering from a gunshot wound to the head and his wife, Irene Lord, 63, dead in bed, also from a shot to the head.

Lord died while en route to a hospital, Weidel said.

In addition to the revolver, Irene Lord had a second handgun registered in her name; police said there were also several rifles, bows and arrows and a spear gun at the house.

Investigators from the Rockland County Bureau of Criminal Investigation also assisted on the scene.

It is the second murder-suicide in Ramapo in the last few months.

In October a former police officer shot his wife then killed himself at their Sloatsburg home.

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