New Hampshire authorities say the deaths of a man and a woman earlier in the week at a home in Hooksett have been deemed homicides.
The attorney general's office said Thursday autopsies performed on 79-year-old June Cosma and 80-year-old Thomas Cosma determined they died of blunt force trauma to the head.
Massachusetts police had engaged in a high-speed chase Sunday with a car registered to the couple near the Andover and Lawrence town line. The driver got away, but the vehicle was later found abandoned in Lawrence.
Authorities said the body of a man was later found near the abandoned car. The man, later identified as 34-year-old Zachary Gloudemans, appeared to have taken his own life.
Authorities said police then responded to the couple's home on Kimball Drive Sunday night for a welfare check when they found the bodies of the couple inside.
An investigation showed that Gloudemans had been staying at a nearby home. Neighbors who had interacted with him said they had noticed recent signs of drug abuse.
"There are no words that can capture the shock we're experiencing or the sorrow we're enduring in losing two wonderful human beings," read a statement attributed to the victims' family. "We are reminiscing about them in the way they both deserve to be remembered: As hard-working, caring and mindful people who were as genuine as they were kind. Rather than dwell on the circumstances of their deaths, we instead choose to remember them for how they lived."
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The exact facts and circumstances of the homicides remain under investigation.
