TRAGIC

Connecticut Murder-Suicide Turns Out to Be Double Overdose

The presence of blood on scene led police to think the case was initially a murder-suicide.

What was thought to be a murder-suicide of a father and his son in Branford, Connecticut, turned out to be two accidental overdoses, the Hartford Courant reports. The chief medical examiner’s office said the cause of death for both 71-year-old David Wells and 36-year-old Jason Wells was acute intoxication—despite authorities first deeming the case to be a murder-suicide in early August. “A murder-suicide is what it appeared to be on the surface,” Det. Lt. Dominick Eula told the newspaper. “There was blood on scene and, obviously, having two people deceased is not normal for an overdose, so that’s what gave it the appearance.” Police also initially told the public that the two men had “signs of trauma” on their bodies.

David reportedly had clonazepam, fentanyl and heroin in his system, while Jason died of the effects of clonazepam, cocaine, sertraline, fentanyl, oxycodone, and heroin. Eula said police are still investigating the case and trying to determine how the two men got the drugs that ended up killing them.