Isère: an elderly couple found shot dead

An elderly couple was found dead at home on Sunday in Isère, presumably killed by the rifle found at their side, the Grenoble prosecutor's office announced on Monday.

Worried about the fate of their friend who would have made suicidal remarks to them, relatives of the 82-year-old man gave the alert on Sunday morning, leading the gendarmes to find the body of the couple in their bedroom, a rifle at their feet of the husband.

In 2020, 90 women were killed by their spouse or ex-spouse in France

Without any trace of break-in, "the first elements of the investigation (...) suggest that Mr. G. killed his wife before taking his own life," Grenoble prosecutor Eric Vaillant wrote in a press release, confirming news from Dauphiné Libéré and Freedom, a radio station from Reunion Island, where the 71-year-old was from.

According to the prosecutor, no health problem "likely to explain the very probable act" of the man was known, and he was not known to the police.

"On the other hand, tensions in the couple seem to have been exacerbated recently, to the point that Mrs. G. would have liked to leave her husband to go back to Reunion," adds the prosecutor.

He adds that the hearings are continuing "to clarify the relationship between the spouses and more generally the context of the facts" which occurred in the town of Fontanil Cornillon, near Grenoble, in Isère. In 2020, 90 women were killed by their spouse or ex-spouse in France, against 146 in 2019, according to the government count.