Dead Couple Were Down On Their Luck

"GLADSTONE, MO — Gladstone police said the deaths of a man and woman at an apartment on Sunday were ruled a murder-suicide by the medical examiner's office.

"Police were called to the 2400 block of Northeast 70th Street in the afternoon and found Christine and Anthony Niccoli, both 52, dead.

"Neighbor Orlando Hill said he spoke to the couple over the weekend. He [said] that the couple appeared to be down on their luck and may have had health issues.

"`He told me he had real bad health problems. His wife was in pain a lot, all the time,` Hill said. `They showed signs something was wrong. Because if you go into the laundry room, they used to throw stuff in there. Then, in the last couple of weeks, it got real bad and they were throwing out a bunch of stuff.`

"`They were down on their luck. They had lost their truck. I guess they thought there was no hope,` said neighbor Beth Hadley.

"Richard King of the Gladstone Police Department said the only thing investigators could say for sure is that Andrew Niccoli appeared to have killed Christine Niccoli before taking his own life.

"`Beyond that, the circumstances are unknown to me, and maybe even unknown to investigators at this point,` King said."

From KMBC.com...