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A Newfane couple married 70 years died Friday, October 25 in a suicide-homicide, state police say. Their family said they were a devoted couple who “chose to die together as they’d lived together.”
The Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, completed autopsies on Blake Prescott, 91, and Helen Prescott, 88, a married couple who lived in the home on South Wardsboro Road where this incident occurred.
The medical examiner determined that Helen Prescott’s cause of death was gunshot wounds to the torso, and the manner of death is a homicide. The cause of Blake Prescott’s death was a gunshot wound to the chest, and the manner of death is a suicide.
The Prescott family asked the Vermont State Police to tell the public that Blake and Helen shared a lifetime of love and commitment to each other. “As a devoted couple of more than 70 years, who had recently experienced precipitously declining health, they chose to die together as they’d lived together,” the family said in a statement provided to the state police.
According to the Brattleboro Reformer, Blake Prescott was a retired physician who contributed opinion pieces to the Windham County daily newspaper. He is the author of a 2019 book called “Short Stories, Tall Tales, and Surprise Endings: An Armchair Map for Vicarious Adventure.” A garden with thousands of daffodils bloomed every spring at their home.
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Categories: Police Reports
The church teaches, “Everyone is responsible for his life before God who has given it to him. It is God who remains the sovereign Master of Life. We are obliged to accept life gratefully and preserve it for his honor and the salvation of our souls. We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of.” CCC 2280. And “The Church prays for those who have taken their own lives.” CCC 2283.
Sadly, we are living in a culture that dismisses any thought about the sanctity of life given to us by God, or His commandments that are the basis of a healthy, functioning society.
With that said, does modern medical technology that manages to keep us alive longer not thwart the will of God?
In reply to Brian Martin – If you are interested in the Catholic answers to some of these, here are some resources. Not sure if links are ok on this forum, so I took out the front end of them.
Ordinary vs. extraordinary medical treatments: catholic.com/qa/would-i-be-committing-mortal-sin-if-i-refuse-medical-treatment
Is it lawful to kill oneself? No – See Aquinas II-II Q.62 A.5: newadvent.org/summa/3064.htm#article5
Overall discussion of death and modern medicine: americamagazine.org/issue/528/article/catholicism-death-and-modern-medicine
We have to ask what would lead a doctor and his wife to take drastic action. Why did they not choose to live out their lives until a natural death? We are told their health was failing. They seemed to have a nice safe secure home. Were they not able to get the support to stay in their home?
Did they not want to go into a facility? As a doctor, why not? What were their options? Why do so many seniors turn to suicide?
I hope their privacy is honored, but we need to ask why so many take such drastic action. You can visit so many Facebook groups to see the seniors who are miserably suffering alone without the help and resources they need. And they are very lonely and sad, without hope of things improving. Too many do not have a safe secure home, are often neglected by family members and agencies are not helping them. They are left to figure out how to survive. Too many are in poverty as Social Security does not keep up with the increased cost of living. Bills are higher than income and folks have drastic decisions to make, whether to keep their home warm enough, whether to purchase the medications prescribed for them, or whether to buy good quality healthy food or buy the cheap unhealthy stuff so they can pay another bill. Home health denies them their services, meals on wheels does not provide meals for everyone, especially if you need a special diet due to health problems. They lack transportation and end up staying at home much more than is healthy. As their lifelong friends start to pass away they often lack social interaction to make new ones. They are often forgotten and become known as the old people who live in that rundown house that they can no longer maintain like they used to. It is extremely difficult to even hire handy people to help. People just do not show up and so many just do not want to work and many do not care about the quality of their work if they do show up. Many home bound folks cannot get to medical care without transportation, cannot get out to food banks etc, which makes it difficult to get food and necessities.
Were they not able to get home health and the services they needed to stay at home? The state and agencies required to provide services to vulnerable seniors and others has been failing its residents more and more. Home health services are withheld due to employee shortages so people are not getting the support they desperately need. Without help the quality of life disappears and the situation gets more desperate for all folks who have been getting services which have been drastically cut for the past several years. Programs that were put in place to offer the necessary supports for seniors and others with physical challenges have dried up and been removed. People are left to fend for themselves without any help at all. So as sad as this situation is, was this the best option they decided to pursue. Were services and help not made available to them like so many other folks are experiencing? The state has abandoned the homeless and seniors and other folks as well. The social services have collapsed but the public is just beginning to hear about it.
Too many think all the social programs in place take care of seniors. Unfortunately that is a misconception and far from the truth! As citizens we need to ask ourselves if there is something we can do for others. Without family or social services filling the gap we need to seriously look to volunteers to fill that gap, but volunteers are extremely few and far between these days. The ones who do volunteer are already very busy. And for whatever reason seniors are not a high priority for anyone any longer. We have lost respect for our elders. Too many call them useless eaters. Every agency and state program does not fulfill its own responsibilities and expects someone else to help the people so no one does! It was never the responsibility of the government to take care of people. But once they took over that job it created a bad situation and the government has now failed its citizens. We now have vulnerable people who are not able to properly care for themselves going without any help at all.
We cannot undo what happened to this couple but maybe we can help prevent another murder suicide from happening…… so sorry to hear about them and so sorry for their loved ones! What caused them to believe this was their best option?
Who are you to say it needed to be “prevented”. Their body, their choice. I think after living that long, in a devoted relationship, they got to make their choice to take that trip to the afterlife together. All the other malarky of BS information you wrote, that I stopped reading, has nothing to do with the situation. You are projecting what YOU think people should do. How dare you judge what they chose to do, especially at their age and how they supposedly lived. I will post my name as I am not afraid to stand behind my words.
Everyone is accountable before G-D for their actions and choices. I can’t render specific judgment. I will say that I think outright suicide is wrong, each will have to answer for themselves at the appointed day. That said, taking another’s life even if they have agreed to it, is still wrong no matter how you slice it. This makes me wonder what those in Montpelier would say about this, after all they went totally regulatory after a young man purchased a gun and then killed himself. How does this differ, both cases were from despair over their current situation….hmmmm? Perhaps we don’t insert ourselves into another’s decisions and let them answer for their own actions.
They would say that there is an end of life law already on the books that would have spared these people needless pain and suffering that more people would use if they didn’t fear eternal damnation from their invisible sky lord. It’s good that you’re not judging in this specific instance though.
They have no problem with killing babies. Why would they give a hoot about this.
In response to Brian’s comment about modern medical technology keeping people alive beyond the will of God, “Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate, it is the refusal of “over-zealous” treatment. Here one does not will to cause death; one’s inability to impede it is merely accepted.” CCC 2278.
They both lived a long life, maybe they could see the decay of their lives and the financial struggles ahead and they’ve had enough.
We don’t know why, but it was their decision there are better ways to take your own life,……………. this is pretty sad !!
This is terribly tragic, because after the beautiful and innumerable blessings of a lifetime of marriage shared together, God, the Author of life and giver of every good gift, was completely left out of this scenario. This man murdered his wife and then killed himself. I don’t know how to legitimize or minimize the horror of this action. Sadly, there will be many who will applaud them and see their actions as noble.
In response to BRIAN F MARTIN’s comment, and in concurring rejoinder to tomkelly1’s:
Brian, there is a universe of difference between technology which helps people live longer, and suicide and homicide which intentionally and willfully takes human life away. For analogy, we need look no further than increasingly younger prematurely born infants who are able to be kept alive outside the womb. If we follow your rhetorical question out to its logical extreme, could we not then ask the question:
“Do modern continuing advances in neonatal technology which manage to keep premature infants alive not thwart the will of God?”
What is the value of a human soul? When God is removed from the equation, the answer is that there is no inherent value or dignity. But when He is seen as both the Creator of life and the Father in whose image we are made, as well as the Savior and Redeemer of every person whose sacrificial love demonstrated in His death and resurrection gives us eternal life, then we are of inestimable value and worth. Therefore, we never intentionally kill another person.
Abortion—the intentional killing of an innocent and defenseless human life—has become so popular and prevalent because an entire generation has had God removed from the picture. Even if the mother’s life, or her baby’s life or health are in danger or at risk, abortion is never, ever medically necessary. A baby or her mom may die in an attempt to save their lives, but we are never to intentionally kill a baby in the misguided notion of alleviating suffering.
Medical science is supposed to do all at its disposal to protect, enhance, and preserve life, not intentionally destroy it. We all instinctively know this, but as a society we have allowed the wool to be pulled over our eyes and a dark pall of deception to sear our consciences to believe we have the authority to decide who lives or dies.
About three to five hundred babies survive abortions every year. What a bizarre conundrum that is for the abortionist, the attending personnel, and the parents! What other procedure in the world is considered a success when the patient dies except abortion (or physician-assisted suicide)? Now what do you do when the “fetus” lives? Employ the latest medical technology? Or deny it? Sadly, many reason that they were trying to kill the baby anyway, so let’s just passively let the abortion survivor die by refusing to give her lifesaving care, or hasten his demise by actively killing the child. Sadly, it’s always the humanity of these babies which is forgotten in the name of “my body, my choice.”
https://facesofchoice.org/home/
Per the statement from the family to the state police, it seems that they knew ahead of time that their parents were planning on killing themselves. This makes the whole situation even more barbaric.
The state of Vermont has an Assisted Suicide law in place that was not used, a firearm was used. Another useless law passed by the Communist/Progressive lawmakers of Vermont.
The state of Vermont has a three-day waiting period to purchase a firearm that we were told would help prevent this but more than likely this was not a newly purchased firearm. Another useless law passed by the Communist/Progressive lawmakers of Vermont.
Vermont’s culture of death is pervasive. How tragic.
I find the story of Blake and Helen’s journey of life and death both courageous and beautiful. What bravery to choose to live together and die together on their own terms. After 70 years of loving each other and caring for each other, their choice to die together and not continue to suffer the pain and burden of their failing bodies is noble. Wishing peace and love to the amazing daughters that they loved and raised and who cherished and supported them in return.
Christie,
No matter how “noble” you consider this homicide/suicide to be, the stark fact remains that this man murdered his wife by shooting her to death. Putting down a terminally wounded deer with a well-placed bullet to its brain after it has been struck by a car, yes. Shooting your bride and life partner of seventy years in the torso, no.
You set a very dangerous and deeply troubling precedent by referring to what this husband did as brave and noble. Men, husbands, and fathers have been charged since Adam with the responsibility of protecting and defending their wives, children, and anyone who is vulnerable and needs their assistance. Would you now also begin to normalize and legitimize an action—murdering your wife—so widely recognized across every culture on earth as contrary to every impulse of true nobility, decency, and dignity in the human soul?
But we are now living in a society which has questioned and attacked and undermined the most basic and non-negotiable foundations of human existence since God created us male and female and gave us some very instructions, such as you shall not murder. So, it should not shock us that when God, and the truth that we are fearfully and wonderfully created in His divine image, is removed from the equation, all that is good will be deconstructed, and every manner of lawlessness, perversion, and evil will be seen as noble and brave.
I once heard young adults say that they would have preferred being aborted than born to drug addicted ‘mothers’. Their lives had been hell. I believe people have the right to choose life or death.
Society and particularly religious people need to stop judging and respect people’s choices. No one knows another’s life.
Where is the evidence that the wife wanted her husband to kill her? Was there a note?
All I know is that God loved these two people and still does. The rest of us should keep our judgments to ourselves.
Will our “brave” little state now be the first to propose “assisted homicide” legislation, (other than what’s already being done to the infants who survive abortion)?
“Safe murder sites?”
None of us are in a position to judge the Newfane man who shot his wife and then killed himself. And without question God loves them both and never withdrew that love. And we must pray for the couple and their family. Nevertheless, it seems appropriate to respond to the voluntarily published and not-so-veiled suggestion that homicide-suicide is a legitimate, even loving option for “devoted couples . . . experiencing precipitously declining health” and for others similarly situated. The circumstances presented cannot be viewed in a vacuum. As has been pointed out by others, Vermont has in recent years changed its law to now permit suicide with the assistance of doctors (See, Chapter 113 of Title 18, Patient Rights at End of Life); physicians may now prescribe medication for the purpose of hastening a patient’s death. One could argue that the case at hand proves the adage, “The law is a teacher.” While we must not judge the conduct of the couple, we are duty-bound to point out when public policy violates God’s law which says, “We are stewards not owners of the life entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of.” CCC 2280. We are also duty-bound to respond to statements which seem to promote the use of such illegitimate means to end life. We can and must defend life.
That is horrible. It reminded me of the mourning dove, one of a pair, that was injured on my property and had to be put down. The mate lingered in my yard for months, sitting on the clothesline alone as the couple had been wont to do. I think it was self-soothing by looking at its reflection in a window…or looking for me, as I’d taken the injured dove inside for pickup by the wildlife people: “Where is she? What have you done with her?”
OAK LEAVES
By Ellin Anderson
Oak leaf clusters set apart
Wounds that won a Purple Heart;
Wounded in the lists of love:
One grave sin, and one dead dove.
In Woe’s Wood, the loved one grieves
Where his mate sleeps under leaves:
Bowed, the billing cooing head,
Stained, the breast where beauty bled.
Pallor paints a tear-stained cheek —
Valor’s measured in the meek
By the loyalty that it owns:
Oak leaves, and two sets of bones.