Close friends are shedding light into why their loved ones were part of a planned murder-suicide.
The shootings happened Tuesday at the Ridge Crest Health Campus in Summit Township.
An 89-year-old man shot his wife, then turned the gun on himself.
Some are calling it a true tragedy, almost like "Romeo and Juliet."
The couple, Paul and Mary Matteson, had been married for more than 60 years and now friends and family say it's hard to believe it ended like this.
This quiet circle drive south of town held a close circle of friends.
Paul, a World War II veteran who fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and his wife Mary didn't have children of their own, but built family-like relationships with the folks next door.
"I've been here since I was 7-years-old and Paul and Mary were like my second parents."
"They were a good couple. There wasn't a bad bone in their body."
They even decided to start caring for the Matteson's lawn, to keep it the "prettiest" on the block, while they are having trouble coping with the loss.
"I just don't believe it. It just hasn't sunk in yet. 'Til it does, we're kind of in limbo," said Gary Phillips.
They are starting to realize why it may have happened. Recently, Mary's health started going downhill.
"She had demensia. She fell twice. First in a month, then she fell again. And this time she broke a femur, so they had to operate which started making life tough. So that kind of brought him down a little bit too. Cause he couldn't live without her, and she couldn't live without him," said Jerri Bartlett-Boone.
And that's why these friends say more than anything, this tragic ending was all about love.
"He wasn't a terrible man. They wanted to be together. They were always together. And this hurts. But they're together. And that's what's comforting me."
The sheriff says, Paul did leave a note, but only to put different affairs in order. It didn't give any logic or reasoning.
Investigators do believe he had been planning to do this for a couple of days.
