Mattapoisett couple found dead in home

By Stewart Bishop, Globe Correspondent

A Mattapoisett couple were found dead in their home today, authorities said.

Mattapoisett police responded at about 2 p.m. today to a home on Tallman Street where they discovered the bodies of Joseph Battistelli, 78, and his wife, Shirley Battistelli, 74, said Plymouth district attorney's spokeswoman Bridget Norton Middleton.

The husband was found in the basement where he appeared to have hanged himself and had also suffered a gunshot wound. His wife was found on the main floor of the one-story home. Prosecutors did not say how she died.

There was no sign of forced entry, and investigators do not believe there is a threat to the general public.