Chris
11-01-2004, 04:07:43 PM
Couple's deaths at assisted-living facility probed as murder-suicide
Katie Nelson
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 1, 2004 03:00 PM
For two months, Gorman and Helen Quinn, a couple in their late 80s, were separated.
The husband and wife had moved out of their Mesa home in the summer of 2000 and into independent-living apartments at Friendship Village in Tempe. Then in August her health deteriorated, to the point she had to be moved a block away into the health care center part of the facility.
"He was a frequent visitor," said Darrell Jensen, executive director of Friendship Village, which is home to about 700 independent living residents and 100 "skilled nursing" patients. "He spent the better part of the day with her nearly always."
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Late Sunday night, authorities suspect, the 89-year-old Gorman shot his 88-year-old wife to death, then used the gun to kill himself. A nurse found the two just after 10 p.m.
Another female patient had been living in Quinn's room for two days but she was not harmed. Nor was she aware of the shootings because of hearing problems, Jensen said.
Tempe police are investigating the shooting as a murder-suicide, said officer Jeff Lane. "We don't know if it was a mutual agreement, there were no notes or anything that we've found."
Few of the estimated 25 residents were aware of the shootings Monday because most were asleep, said Lynda F. Kaser, the health services administrator. But counseling services and the facility's chaplain were made available for staff members.
"We're used to dealing with death here, but not in such a tragic way," Kaser said. "It's a shock. We're working through the trauma of it. We care very much about not only our patients and staff but all of God's creatures great and small."
The Quinns lived on Leisure World Boulevard in Mesa until they moved into Friendship Village. A former neighbor, Ruth Johnson, said she remembered she was saddened when the Quinns sold their home three doors down from hers because of Helen Quinn needed treatment for Alzheimer's disease.
Johnson said she treasures the hand-painted Asian teacups and saucers the Quinns gave her just before they moved.
"We've used those cups very carefully, she said. "We prized them because such a wonderful couple gave them to us."
~Chris
Katie Nelson
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 1, 2004 03:00 PM
For two months, Gorman and Helen Quinn, a couple in their late 80s, were separated.
The husband and wife had moved out of their Mesa home in the summer of 2000 and into independent-living apartments at Friendship Village in Tempe. Then in August her health deteriorated, to the point she had to be moved a block away into the health care center part of the facility.
"He was a frequent visitor," said Darrell Jensen, executive director of Friendship Village, which is home to about 700 independent living residents and 100 "skilled nursing" patients. "He spent the better part of the day with her nearly always."
advertisement
Late Sunday night, authorities suspect, the 89-year-old Gorman shot his 88-year-old wife to death, then used the gun to kill himself. A nurse found the two just after 10 p.m.
Another female patient had been living in Quinn's room for two days but she was not harmed. Nor was she aware of the shootings because of hearing problems, Jensen said.
Tempe police are investigating the shooting as a murder-suicide, said officer Jeff Lane. "We don't know if it was a mutual agreement, there were no notes or anything that we've found."
Few of the estimated 25 residents were aware of the shootings Monday because most were asleep, said Lynda F. Kaser, the health services administrator. But counseling services and the facility's chaplain were made available for staff members.
"We're used to dealing with death here, but not in such a tragic way," Kaser said. "It's a shock. We're working through the trauma of it. We care very much about not only our patients and staff but all of God's creatures great and small."
The Quinns lived on Leisure World Boulevard in Mesa until they moved into Friendship Village. A former neighbor, Ruth Johnson, said she remembered she was saddened when the Quinns sold their home three doors down from hers because of Helen Quinn needed treatment for Alzheimer's disease.
Johnson said she treasures the hand-painted Asian teacups and saucers the Quinns gave her just before they moved.
"We've used those cups very carefully, she said. "We prized them because such a wonderful couple gave them to us."
~Chris