Brentwood man kills his wife, then himself, police say

A Brentwood man shot and killed his wife Thursday morning, then fatally shot himself in what Suffolk County police called a murder-suicide.   

Third Precinct patrol officers who responded to a hang up 911 call from a Barleau Street house entered the Brentwood home and found Rosemary Paul, 79, dead from a gunshot wound, said Det. Lt. Kevin Beyrer, commanding officer of the Suffolk police Homicide Unit. 

Officers found her husband, James Paul, 84, with a gunshot wound and a handgun, Beyrer said. He was pronounced dead at Southside Hospital in Bay Shore.

“We are working under the assumption that he shot the woman, made the 911 call and then shot himself,” Beyrer said. 

Neighbors said the couple had lived in the home for more than 50 years, and that both were struggling with health problems.