Richfield deaths likely were murder-suicide

Police in Richfield are investigating what appears to be a murder-suicide involving a Florida couple.

After they hadn't paid their rent and the landlord couldn't reach them, police were called Nov. 17 to an apartment rented by John W. Adams and his wife, Catherine.

Officers got into the apartment and found the couple's bodies, Richfield Police Chief John Evans said Monday.

"They were found in the bedroom," he said. "She was on the bed and he was on the floor."

Police said Catherine Adams, 36, was shot in the head and the chest. John Adams, 46, apparently shot himself, officers said.

A pair of suicide notes were found near the bodies. They were dated Oct. 12 at 2 a.m., when police believe the couple died. Investigators said the handwritten notes referred to health problems that the couple had been suffering and left phone numbers for relatives in Florida.

"He said something about being sick and he was now on the other side," Evans told the Deseret Morning News.

The deaths are puzzling to police for a number of reasons. The chief said that the couple had lived in Richfield for about a year, but neither was employed anywhere. Neighbors reported the couple had kept to themselves and seldom ventured outside their apartment.

Police said John Adams had been an attorney, but hadn't worked in some time. Catherine Adams hadn't seen her mother in 17 years, Evans said.

"It's strange enough that we need to go a bit further," he said.

Richfield police said they had no criminal history nor any calls of trouble involving the couple.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com