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April 11, 2008

Update: 2 found dead in fire ID'd; woman shot in head

A woman found dead after a Cumberland house fire died from "skull fractures and brain injuries due to perforating gunshot wound to head," while her husband died from multiple blunt force injuries, the state medical examiners' office said this afternoon.

The office also formally identified the two as Norman Langelier, 61, who was a businessman in North Attleboro, and Beatrice Langelier, 60.

The two owned the 3,300-square-foot house at 500 Nate Whipple Highway, which was destroyed by fire yesterday. Explosions, which awakened neighbors, preceded the blaze.

Norman Langelier made his own ammunition, according to Capt. James. P. Coyne. The process of packing bullet casings with gun powder and primer is cheaper than buying bullets, Coyne said. As a result, there was potentially unstable material on the scene.

The state medical examiners office would not clarify this afternoon whether the gunshot to Beatrice Langelier's head may have resulted from ammunition in the house or some other means.

Police were scheduled to hold a press conference at 4 p.m. today on the fire, which they have been treating as a crime scene.

Earlier today, officials brought a device known casually as an “ammunitions cooker” to disable the bullet-making ingredients that survived the blast. Known formally as the armored ammunition detonation unit, it was brought to the location in the bed of a pickup truck. Ammunition is inserted into the device; if it’s live, it explodes in a safe environment.

-- projo.com and Journal staff

The police usually transport ammunition to the unit, but in this case, they took the unit to the site because there was such a large amount of ammunition, said state police Lt. John Blessing, acting state fire marshal.

Yesterday at 4:30 a.m., firefighters went to the house and by early afternoon, authorities had recovered the remains of a man and a woman.

Cumberland Police Chief John Desmarais said yesterday that the police were treating the case as a crime unless an investigation showed otherwise. He also said yesterday there was no indication of forced entry to the house.

The fire was under control in about two hours. What was left of the house was deemed unsafe for much of the day due to presence of propane tanks and unstable walls.

A large portion of Nate Whipple Highway was blocked yesterday and the Langeliers’ large front yard was draped with yellow crime-scene tape.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 4:19 PM | Permalink

April 11, 2008

Update: 2 found dead in fire ID'd; woman shot in head

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