Wellesley couple found dead in home

Carbon monoxide poisoning is cited

Alice and James Hopson apparently left their sedan running in their two-car garage. (JIM DAVIS/GLOBE STAFF)

WELLESLEY - An elderly couple was found dead yesterday morning of apparent carbon monoxide poisoning, prompting officials to remind residents to install carbon monoxide detectors in their homes.

Alice and James Hopson did not have a carbon monoxide detector in their bluish-gray ranch-style house. The couple apparently left their sedan running in their two-car garage, allowing carbon monoxide to seep into the living quarters, said Deputy Police Chief William Brooks.

It was the second time the couple had forgotten to turn off their car's engine, Brooks said. He did not know when the first incident occurred, but neighbors said it was several years ago. They said the couple was taken to the hospital that time.

"The message here is all homes should have carbon monoxide and smoke detectors," Brooks said. "This house had neither."

A preliminary investigation indicated that no foul play was involved in the deaths, Brooks said. Police are investigating the deaths with the Norfolk district attorney's office and the state medical examiner's office.

The couple's adult son discovered the bodies at about 11:44 a.m., after a home healthcare worker told him that no one had answered the door when she arrived earlier in the morning, Brooks said. Alice Hopson, 90, admired by neighbors for her well-kept flower gardens, was found in the sitting room. James Hopson, 83, who neighbors said was a retired Raytheon engineer, was in the bathroom. The couple's dog and cat also died.

Initially, rescue workers appeared to think they could revive the couple, carrying Alice Hopson out to the front steps of the Maurice Road home, said a neighbor, David Hearn.

"They laid her on the front step," he said. "They didn't know what the situation was."

But it was too late. By the time emergency workers arrived, the car was out of gas, said Deputy Fire Chief Rick DeLorie.

DeLorie also emphasized the need for carbon monoxide detectors. "It's a sad situation," DeLorie said.

"Those devices could have saved them."

Authorities said they didn't know how long the car was left running or how long the couple had been dead before they were found.

"I feel terrible," said Florence Hearn, who lives across the street from the couple in this close-knit hillside neighborhood, where houses are shouting distance from one another.

"It's really tragic how they died. We would have expected they would have died of a stroke or heart attack."

The couple's health, she said, had been failing. The wife had been caring for her husband, but in recent months she had suffered a fall and was having difficulty, she said.

The couple, neighbors said, had lived in the home for decades, raising a son and daughter there.

Throughout the spring and summer, Alice Hopson could be seen tending to an assortment of flowers, starting with crocuses and daffodils in the spring.

"They were very friendly neighbors," Florence Hearn said. "They would talk to you frequently. . . . She was always active in the garden."

Globe correspendent Lisa Keen contributed to this report.