Mental health issues may have contributed to the murder-suicide of a couple found in their Cadboro Bay home last week, police say.
Erich and Kathy Mueller were found in their home at 3931 Cadboro Bay Rd. by a family member around 2:45 p.m., on Jan. 18.
Saanich police spent more than 50 hours at the scene, before wrapping up Thursday evening.
Autopsies, held Thursday in Vancouver, confirmed the case was a murder-suicide. However, police have not revealed any details about the killing.
“Those intimate investigative details are not being released by us at this time out of respect for the family members who are still very much grieving,” said Sgt. Dean Jantzen.
The police investigation ended and further examination of the case will be done by the B.C. Coroners Service.
Investigators and family members believe mental health issues were an underlying factor in the tragedy, Jantzen said.
“We believe there were some undiagnosed or underlying issues here,” he said, without offering details.
Erich, 72, was a retired civil engineer from Saskatchewan. Kathy, originally from the U.S., was a career counsellor and former teacher.
Prior to moving to Saanich the pair lived in Prince George, where Erich worked for the city and Kathy served as a school trustee in the 1990s.
From September 2009 to April 2010 the Muellers were in Gingolx, BC, at the mouth of the Nass River. Kathy taught adult continuing education programs in the small aboriginal community, as part of a partnership between Northwest Community College and the Village of Gingolx.
“They were pretty friendly and outgoing. We didn’t see them sad,” Gingolx education administrator Neal Barton said. “She was involved in the community. Students really enjoyed the way Kathy taught.”
Erich tutored students on a volunteer basis during their stay.
Cadboro Bay neighbour Mary Ann Fenimore said she and her husband knew the Muellers and had shared a few meals together.
“They were very nice people and we were delighted to have them as neighbours,” she said. “We’re all just in a sense of grief.”
Jantzen said Saanich police haven’t dealt with a lot of murder-suicides in recent memory, though they did take a lead role in September 2007 when Oak Bay resident Peter Lee killed his wife Sunny Park, their son Christian, as well as Park’s parents.
This is the first homicide of 2011 for Saanich.
– with files from Prince George Free Press
kslavin@saanichnews.com
