Murder-Suicide Suspected in Deaths of Elderly North Brea Couple

A 65-year-old man depressed over persistent health problems is suspected of fatally stabbing his wife before turning the knife on himself, police said Thursday.

The bodies of Alfred Cole and his wife, Antonia, 74, were found inside their darkened home on La Canada Drive late Wednesday, after their worried daughter asked police to check on them because they hadn’t returned an earlier phone call.

When officers arrived at the ranch-style house about 11 p.m., no one answered the gated frontdoor, Brea Police Sgt. Tom Flenniken said. Officers called the couple’s daughter and asked her to bring them a key to get inside.

“The house was secure and there was no evidence of forced entry,” Flenniken said. “It was dark and completely locked up.”

Investigators were unable to confirm “who stabbed whom first” and are waiting for autopsy reports, Flenniken said. Preliminary evidence indicates Alfred Cole likely initiated the murder-suicide, police said.

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“He’s had medical problems and he’s been depressed and despondent,” Flenniken said of the retired real estate broker. “We have our ideas about what happened.”

Neighbors along the sleepy street in north Brea were stunned and saddened when word of the deaths trickled from one house to the next Thursday.

A tidy, older neighborhood where many residents, including the Coles, have lived for 40 years or more, the 1400 block of La Canada is rarely visited by police, neighbors said.

Samuel Jorgenson, 60, said he was awakened late Wednesday by car doors slamming and voices, but didn’t realize there was a crime scene across the street until morning, when he took his dog for a walk and spotted yellow police tape dangling from a tree in the Coles’ frontyard.

“I stopped and asked the next-door neighbor what happened and she knew,” Jorgenson said. “It’s just awful to think something so violent was going on right inside that house, and here we live so close and didn’t--couldn’t--do anything.”

Betty Novicoff said she’s lived in the house next door to the Coles for 35 years and was also unaware of any difficulties, health or otherwise, between the couple.

Novicoff, a neighborhood block watch leader, called the Coles a “sweet, helpful couple” that never failed to wave or look out for others on the street.

“They were just really nice people,” Novicoff said. “We had no idea, no idea at all that they were so troubled.”

Police did not elaborate on the medical problems of Alfred Cole, who married Antonia nearly 18 years ago, when he was 47, and took her name. The couple’s daughter could not be reached for comment.

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The violent method used to end their lives is unusual, especially for a suicide, but is a tragic reminder of the desperation felt by many older residents.

Pat Pina, executive director of Hotline Help Center, a suicide prevention program based in Anaheim, said 20% of all suicides are committed by people 65 and older.

“This is certainly a group of folks we are not reaching, or forgetting about, for some very unfortunate reason,” Pina said. “Many are frustrated, depressed and believe they have little to reach out for. It is so, so sad.”

Pina said Wednesday’s suspected suicide by stabbing was the first she’s heard of. Most suicidal people resort to drugs or alcohol overdoses and guns, she said.