Deaths ruled murder – suicide

Historic City News reporters were notified that St. Johns County Sheriff’s deputies responded to an E-911 call at 11:35 p.m. Thursday evening from a man who stated that he shot his wife and he was walking outside — to shoot himself.

The elderly St. Johns County couple was found dead at their residence, south of St. Augustine Shores Thursday evening.

The victim, identified as 85 year-old Lillian Martha McCarthy, was found in a bedroom in her home at 944 Ridgewood Lane.

Her husband, identified as 85 year-old Richard Plumb McCarthy, was found lying in the driveway with the weapon.

After collecting evidence from the scene, the bodies were released to the 7th District Medical Examiner’s Office.

The results of the autopsy examination received by Historic City News yesterday revealed that, in each case, the cause of death was gunshot. “The Medical Examiner has determined that this incident is, in fact, a murder-suicide,” Sheriff’s spokesman Kevin Kelshaw reported.

The McCarthy’s lived in the “Southwood at Belle Haven” subdivision.