The state medical examiner’s office said Tuesday that a Brooklin couple died in a murder-suicide.
Shannon Moss, a spokeswoman for the Maine State Police, identified the husband and wife as 75-year-old William Cohen and 71-year-old Pamela Cohen. They lived on East Road in Brooklin. She also said no additional details about their deaths would be released.
William Cohen is listed on the Brooklin town website as chair of the Board of Selectmen.
David Reiley, who also serves on the board, told the Bangor Daily News that everyone who knew the Cohens was shocked by the news of their deaths.
“No one in their wildest dreams would have imagined anything like this,” Reiley told the newspaper.
William Cohen had a long career in corporate communications and had worked at Verso Paper Co., Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield and Bangor Hydro Electric Co., according to his LinkedIn page.
Moss said Monday that officers from the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office found the bodies at the home on Sunday afternoon.
Maine State Police initially said only that the agency was investigating the deaths of two people “under suspicious circumstances” but there was no threat to the public.
The bodies were taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta for autopsies and to confirm their identities.
Staff writer Rachel Ohm contributed to this report.
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