Deaths Of Twins Ruled Murder/Suicide

"PARRYVILLE, PA - The 58-year-old twin brothers from Carbon County who shared a violent past and both died this week of gunshot wounds were likely a murder-suicide, Coroner Bruce Nalesnik said Friday.

"Gerald J. Avvisato, who was seen shooting himself at a gas station Tuesday, first likely shot and killed his brother Nicholas P. Avvisato in the apartment where they lived together in Parryville, he said.

"The twin brothers apparently have lived together for decades in various communities, but they had a history of drunkenness and fighting.

"Nalesnik said that history led state police to make forced entry into their apartment Wednesday. The brothers lived in the 300 block of Centre Street in Parryville, a borough of about 500 residents between Lehighton and Palmerton along Route 248.

"Authorities found Nicholas with a fatal shotgun wound to his abdomen lying on the kitchen floor. Gerald shot himself with a handgun while parked in a car wash stall at a Shell gas station on Route 209 in Towamensing Township near Palmerton."

From The Morning Call...