A couple found dead in their rural Clearwater home Thursday night appear to be victims of a murder-suicide, said the Stearns County Sheriff's Office.
The sheriff's office identified the couple as Donald Paul Schaefer, 67, and Susan Jean Schaefer, 57, of the 1400 block of Dunmore Circle in Lynden Township.
Preliminary autopsy results indicate Donald Schaefer died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, while Susan Schaefer's death appears to be a homicide.
The Stearns County medical examiner's office received the preliminary autopsy results Friday, but sheriff's officials had declined to release the cause of death until their adult children, who live out of state, arrived in Minnesota.
PATRICE RELERFORD
