A pair of autopsies conducted Saturday morning confirmed that a Village of Glenbrook couple died in a murder-suicide on Thursday.
The couple has been identified by the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office as Tom and Noel Rich.
Friends of Noel Rich went to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office Annex at County Road 466 and Morse Boulevard expressing concerns about not seeing her. Their concerns initiated a welfare check by the sheriff’s office.
When a deputy arrived Friday afternoon at the home in the 1600 block of Oak Forest Drive the bodies were discovered. The home was immediately encircled with yellow crime scene tape.
The autopsies have confirmed that 73-year-old Tom Rich had been armed with a .38-caliber handgun and shot his 65-year-old wife in the back in the bedroom of their home. He then shot himself in the head/neck area, said Lt. Bobby Caruthers of the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. Tom Rich’s body was located in the bathroom off the master bedroom.
Neighbors said Tom and Noel Rich moved into the home in the summer of 2001. They had moved to The Villages from Connecticut.
The couple had been married for 31 years, neighbors said. They said it was Tom Rich’s second marriage and Noel Rich’s first marriage.
Noel Rich has been described by neighbors as fun and vivacious. She was known as a regular line dancer at Spanish Springs Towns Square. She had recently taken a job doing hair for those at a memory care center.