Couple found shot to death

A Deer Park couple found dead in their home Tuesday morning in an apparent murder-suicide were described by a neighbor as generous, hardworking and friendly.

“We were awfully shocked this morning when this all unfolded,” said neighbor Marty Wold.

According to the neighbor and property records, the couple was James and Patricia Elliot.

“They were awfully nice people,” said Wold, adding that James Elliot would plow snow for his neighbors to make a path for the Postal Service, or clear neighbors’ driveways if they needed it.

Emergency dispatchers received a 911 hang-up call about 7:10 a.m. Tuesday, Spokane County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan said.

Dispatchers called back, but got an answering machine during numerous attempts.

A man finally answered and said, “Get out here quick; there’s been a shooting,” Reagan said.

Deputies responded to the home at 1024 W. Westmoreland about 7:30 a.m., Reagan said.

Deputies found the home dark, and no one answered their knocks.

When deputies entered through the unlocked front door, they found the husband dead from an apparent gunshot wound, Reagan said. The man was holding a stainless steel pistol in his lap.

The woman was found in a back bedroom, also dead from an apparent gunshot wound, Reagan said.

The homicide is the first of the year in Spokane County.

The double shooting comes on the heels of a double homicide in Mount Spokane in which an 18-year-old has been charged with murder in the deaths of his mother and father.

Autopsies of the Elliots will likely be done today.