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Renowned divorce lawyer, 59, shoots dead his covid-positive wife, 55, before turninhg gun on himself in Christmas Day murder-suicide

  A renowned  Connecticut   divorce lawyer killed his wife before turning the gun on himself on   Christmas   Day in a murder-suicide, autho...

 A renowned Connecticut divorce lawyer killed his wife before turning the gun on himself on Christmas Day in a murder-suicide, authorities have said.

John Liquori, 59, fatally shot sleeping Cindy Liquori, 55, before shooting himself on Friday while at the home of Cindy's mother in Windsor Locks, about 15 miles north of Hartford, local newspaper the Hartford Courant reported Monday.

The motive behind the murder suicide is still unknown, authorities said, but it is believed that Covid-19 played a part in the days leading up to the killing.

Authorities were told that Cindy had Covid-19 and that John may also have had the virus, according to Windsor Locks Detective Sgt. Jeff Lampson.

Cindy Liquori's mother, Claire Palmer, was undergoing treatment for COVID-19 at a local hospital and family members said that John was waiting for the results of a coronavirus test. 

The couple - who have one child - lived together in Suffield, but on the day Cindy Liquori was dog-sitting for her mother.

A police source told local reporters that John Liquori shot and killed his wife Cindy in her sleep, before he lay down beside her and shot himself, although Lt. Paul Cherniak told Oxygen.com that this was difficult to determine given the nature of the killing.

John Liquori (left), 59, fatally shot a sleeping Cindy Liquori (right), 55, before shooting himself on Christmas day. Authorities were told that Cindy had Covid-19 and that John may also have had the virus

John Liquori (left), 59, fatally shot a sleeping Cindy Liquori (right), 55, before shooting himself on Christmas day. Authorities were told that Cindy had Covid-19 and that John may also have had the virus 

Earlier on Friday evening, John Liquori had called his brother-in-law and asked him to come over and pick up Palmer's dogs, Lampson said. Soon after, John called back again and sounded more distraught. 

'The conversation they had raised serious concerns,' Lampson said.

Cindy Liquori's brother went to the house and found the bodies of John and Cindy at around 6 p.m., as well as at least one firearm - a revolver - police said.

Autopsies conducted by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined that the pair died from gunshot wounds to the head. 


Medics on the scene gave the time of death at approximately 6:10 p.m., police said. 

John Liquori was a well-known divorce lawyer in Suffield, and had been a family court attorney for 33 years.

Another lawyer and friend of John Liquori, David E. Kelly, told the Courant that Liquori had been part of a tight circle of lawyers in the small north-central Connecticut town.

A police source told local reporters that John Liquori shot and killed his wife Cindy in her sleep, before he lay down beside her and shot himself

A police source told local reporters that John Liquori shot and killed his wife Cindy in her sleep, before he lay down beside her and shot himself

'Divorce work is a brutal business under the best of circumstances,' Kelly told the newspaper. 'He was someone who understood the law and how to practice it.' 

He added that the Liquoris were 'wonderful people' and that the news of the murder-suicide was 'a real shock'.

Cindy Liquori was the owner of Cindy's Soap Cottage in East Windsor, while her husband was also listed as being part of the LLC that owns the store.

A sign posted at the store said it was 'closed due to family emergency' 

The couple - who have one child  - lived together in Suffield, but on the day Cindy Liquori was dog-sitting for her mother, Claire Palmer, who was being treated for coronavirus at a local hospital. Pictured: Palmer's house where the murder-suicide took place

The couple - who have one child  - lived together in Suffield, but on the day Cindy Liquori was dog-sitting for her mother, Claire Palmer, who was being treated for coronavirus at a local hospital. Pictured: Palmer's house where the murder-suicide took place

Speaking to Patch.com two weeks before her death Cindy Liquori said 'The last eight months have been very busy and stressful.

'When the pandemic started, I wanted to ensure that my store was essential, so I hired about 15 people to make masks. To date, we have sold over 16,000 handmade local quality masks, which I'm very proud of. We worked our tails off to get them out quickly at a great price. We also sold over 8,000 bottles of hand sanitizer.'

A sign posted at the store said the boutique was 'closed due to family emergency.'

Sarah Andrews told the Journal Inquirer that Cindy Liquori constantly donated to the East Windsor school system.

'Cindy was extremely generous to our community,' Andrews said. 'She donated items from her small business every year to our Safe Graduation auction; the auction raised funds for our Safe Graduation party in June for our graduates. She also donated items for the goodie bags that were given out to the graduates.

'She had a big heart for generosity to support. Thoughts and prayers to her family,' Andrews added. 

According to the New York Times, 181,967 cases of Covid-19 have been reported in Connecticut, with 5,924 related deaths.

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