Crime and Fire

Man Kills Wife, Self at LVH Hospice, DA Says

Police are investigating a murder-suicide that occurred about 1 p.m. in the hospice area of Lehigh Valley Hospital, at 17th and Chew streets, Allentown.

A man killed his elderly wife, then himself in a hospice room at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Allentown around 1 p.m. Tuesday, according to multiple published reports. His wife was a patient at the hospice, the reports said. District Attorney James Martin held a brief news conference outside the hospital about 2 p.m., confirming the apparent murder-suicide, lehighvalleylive.com reported. Hospital staff had gone to the wife's room after hearing the gunshots, but Martin said there were no eyewitnesses, according to a report in The Morning Call.  No names have yet been released. The murder-suicide recalls other Lehigh Valley cases:

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Coroner: Adrienne Snelling Died of Drug Overdose

Lehigh County Coroner has ruled that Adrienne Snelling's death was a homicide. She died of "mixed substance toxicity," according to a Morning Call report.

The Lehigh County Coroner has ruled that Adrienne Snelling, wife of Republican political activist Charles Snelling, died of a drug overdose, according to a Morning Call report. Coroner Scott Grim ruled Adrienne's death as a homicide, following his earlier ruling that Charles Snelling had committed suicide. The findings back what family and friends reported after the couple's bodies were found in their Fogelsville home on March 29: that Charles Snelling had killed his wife and then himself to end their struggle with Alzheimer’s disease, which Adrienne had suffered for six years. Both were 81. The coroner had ruled early on that Charles Snelling died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, but the investigation had continued into his wife's death…

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Life In the Slow Lane

Learn From End-of-Life Lessons

An Allentown woman talks about how she dealt with her husband’s last days.

  End-of-life issues are too complex to be well-served by a bumper sticker mentality. One side can proclaim “Death with Dignity” and the other “All Life is Sacred,” but when it comes right down to it, the long, painful trudge toward death during a lengthy illness is often messy and complicated. No one brought that home better after last week’s column than Marjorie Horton of Allentown. I had written about the deaths of Charles Snelling and his wife, Adrienne, and Horton responded eloquently about her own experience with her husband, Jack. Jack had been diagnosed with dementia in 2003 and for the next eight years, she took care of him at home – with the help of aides -- only putting him in a nursing home in the last three months of his life…

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Was Charles Snelling Right?

What would you want if you were diagnosed with Alzheimer's?

I have no idea what went on in Charles Snelling’s head last week when he took his wife Adrienne’s life before ending his own.   No outsider really knows what goes on in another person’s marriage. Marriages are way too complicated to be reduced to some daytime drama of villains and victims. And I’m betting that most of the people who are willing to pass judgment on Snelling have never been a full-time caregiver for someone with Alzheimer’s for six years. Last October, when New York Times columnist David Brooks put out a call for the life stories of people over 70, Charles Snelling, an entrepreneur and longtime Republican Party activist from Upper Macungie, responded with a lengthy account. The story struck some people as self-congratulatory…

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Rosemary B

11:41 pm on Friday, April 6, 2012

And may God spare you from having to face what he faced with Alzeimers taking his wife. This is such a tradegy. Can't see how so many people can be so judgmental and downright mean.   more ›

Snelling Murder-Suicide in National Spotlight

The love story and deaths of a Fogelsville couple are making headlines across the country.

The 60-year love story and deaths of prominent GOP activist Charles Snelling and his ailing wife, Adrienne, are making headlines from Tampa to Seattle for many reasons. The couple was found dead in their Fogelsville home at 1280 Church St. on Thursday morning. Charles Snelling died of a gunshot wound, the Lehigh County coroner has ruled. His wife's cause of death is still under investigation. The college sweethearts were each 81. They are survived by five children and 11 grandchildren. The murder-suicide follows the deteriorating health of Adrienne, an accomplished fine arts photographer diagnosed with Alzheimer's six years ago. Charles Snelling wrote a poignant biographical column for the New York Times in 2011 describing the couple's …

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Ronald Weaver

8:23 am on Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Daryl..If you read carefully without bias, I said leave judgment up to God our creator including judgment of Mr. Snelling, you and I. It is a known fact that most liberals support abortion and most conservatives do not. I did not bring politics into this Florence did, but I am sorry I responded, it is a total waste of time I am sure you can agree.   more ›

Coroner: Charles Snelling Committed Suicide

Charles Snelling died of a gunshot wound, but the cause of his wife's death is pending investigation, according to Lehigh County Chief Deputy Coroner Paul Hoffman.

  Charles D. Snelling, well-known political activist and businessman, died from a gunshot wound. The Lehigh County Coroner’s Office ruled it a suicide. The cause and manner of death for Snelling’s wife, Adrienne, is pending further investigation. The brief press release from the coroner's office (attached) gave no more specific details. The couple, both 81, were found dead in their home at 1280 Church St., Fogelsville, on Thursday morning. Adrienne suffered from Alzheimer's disease. In a statement to local media Thursday, family members said Charles Snelling "could no longer bear to see the love of his life deteriorate further," choosing to end her life and then his own. Charles Snelling was board chairman of the Metropolitan Washington …

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GOP Activist and His Beloved Wife Found Dead

GOP stalwart Charles Snelling and his wife were found dead Thursday in their Fogelsville home

Prominent GOP activist and businessman Charles Snelling and his wife, Adrienne, were found dead in their Fogelsville home on Thursday morning in what family members say was a murder-suicide. Both were 81. Adrienne suffered from Alzheimer's disease. In a statement family members released to local media, they said Mr. Snelling "could no longer bear to see the love of his life deteriorate further," choosing to end her life and then his own. Timothy Hennessey, aide to state Sen. Bob Mensch, called Charles Snelling  "a visionary, an entrepreneur and a friend to us all." "Their legacy will endure through their generous commitment to Lehigh Valley Hospital, Cedar Crest College, and many other organizations. My thoughts and prayers are with the …

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