A couple was found dead inside a New Hampshire hospital after the husband apparently shot his wife and then himself shortly after outlining his plans in a Facebook post.
Early Tuesday, Mark Lavoie walked into his wife’s hospital room, shot her, then turned the gun on himself. When authorities responded to a call about gunshots in the hospital, they discovered both Lavoie, 50, and his wife Katherine, 49, dead. Just before the murder-suicide, Lavoie wrote a lengthy status update on Facebook explaining why he did what he did.
I want to start off by saying this is going to be officially ruled a murder/suicide when in all actuality it is a double suicide. My baby was trying to escape the bi-polar demons that have been swirling around in her brain since childhood and now because of my selfishness in dialing 911 she is experiencing the only thing she feared more than her illness…life support on a respirator. (
Even though I brought her living will, the doc said her wishes didn’t apply because depression isn’t a non-reversible state. I however did not see that stipulation.) I am more than happy to sacrifice my life to fix my doing and join her spirit in a happier place. I just wanted to let people know my thoughts as to why I am doing this, weather you can understand it or not.
Lavoie’s sister Dorcas Lavoie says that her brother committed the act “out of love.”
It’s not entirely clear how Katherine ended up on life support to begin with, but in the end, Lavoie seems to believe that he did what his wife would have wanted him to do.
“Though a difficult subject I hope my family whom I love dearly can make some sense of what I’m doing though unless you have dealt directly with mental illness if will be difficult,” Lavoie continued.
The case has now been turned over to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office for investigation.
“We will look into everything,” assistant attorney general Jay McCormack said to The Boston Globe. “We do look at social media, and that is an aspect of any investigation. The investigation will be thorough and we will look at all possible avenues. While the investigation is still in the early stages and ongoing, the two deaths appear to be the result of a murder-suicide.”
Near the closing of his note, Lavoie seemed to have a positive outlook on the end of his life.
“Please don’t mourn for me,” Lavoie wrote, “my spirit will be in a much better place with my soul mate; you may even catch a glimpse of us from time to time.”
