LOWER BURRELL, Pa. — The Westmoreland County coroner confirmed Thursday evening that a husband and wife found shot to death inside their home earlier in the morning were killed in a murder-suicide.
Westmoreland County Coroner Kenneth A. Bacha said Mark McDade shot and killed his wife, Leanne McDade, at their residence in the 100 block of Clinton Street and then turned the firearm on himself, sustaining a fatal self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Dr. Cyril H. Wecht and Pathology Associates performed an autopsy on the couple Thursday, and the results were reflective of the coroner’s causes of death. Toxicology reports will not be available for several more weeks.
A family member of the victims called police after finding the bodies in an upstairs bedroom about 8 a.m. Thursday, according to the Lower Burrell police chief.
The Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office pronounced 42-year-old Leanne McDade and 45-year-old Mark McDade dead just before 9:30 a.m. The shooting is believed to have happened sometime Wednesday evening.
According to Westmoreland County Court records, the McDades had been married for 19 years.
Police said Leanne McDade had recently begun to move out of the home and that the couple may have had domestic issues.
Officials at Stewart Elementary School three blocks away were notified of the shooting as a precaution, but the Burrell School District didn't lock down that building or any of its other facilities.
The investigation is ongoing with the coroner’s office and investigators, police said.
WPXI
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