the elderly couple decided to die together, the family claims

The couple, who had been together for more than 70 years, ended their lives in a murder-suicide in the home they shared in Newfane, a small town in eastern Vermont, according to authorities and the couple’s relatives.

According to Vermont State Police, the bodies of 91-year-old Blake Prescott and 88-year-old Helen Prescott were found by relatives Friday at their home on South Wardsboro Road. The state medical examiner concluded that Helen Prescott died of a gunshot wound to the torso and that her death was a homicide. Blake Prescott died from a gunshot wound to the chest and his death was classified as a suicide.

Relatives of the Prescotts released a statement through state police, which is overseeing the investigation into their deaths.

“As a devoted couple of over 70 years who had recently experienced rapidly declining health, they chose to die together as they had lived together,” the family said.

Blake Prescott was a retired doctor who had written opinion pieces for the Brattleboro Reformer in recent years, the newspaper reported. He has also self-published two books, one titled “Love In The Wake Of Covid-19” and the other “Short Stories, Tall Tales, and Surprise Endings: An Armchair Map for Vicarious Adventure.”

Jeremiah Manion of the Globe staff contributed to this report.

John R. Ellement can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @JREbosglobe.