NBC-2: Deaths ruled domestic violence murder-suicide

By Christy Soto
NBC News Reporter

Naples police say 81-year-old Robert Barnes killed a victim inside his home with a knife. Hours later he killed himself with a knife too.

Neighbors identify the victim as Cynthia Peel his wife.

Vail Fischer with The Naples Shelter for Abused Women and Children says she is heartbroken to hear a life was lost within the Collier County community to domestic violence.

“We want to strengthen our community in making sure it doesn’t happen again,” Fischer said.

The shelter will be launching a fatality review team to review the case to see what they could have done to prevent this tragedy.

“That fatality review team gets together with all those different organizations that could have possibly caught this before it happened; when there is a death within our county, we say what could we have done better?” Fischer said.

The Shelter wants to remind everyone that domestic violence does not discriminate and can happen at any age. “This is something that is happening at every age group, social-economic background, every race, every culture,” Fischer said.

Fishcer says some of the common red flags for abuse in elderly couples is isolation and medical coercion.

“It could be very easily disguised as I am caring for someone, I’m taking care of everything for them. That’s how it can look but ultimately that person could be using control over them and really using abuse,” Fischer said.

The shelter says one phone call is all it takes to save a life.

The hotline is available any hour of the day at 239-775-1101.