Couple’s deaths shock Newton

No one who knew the couple, both 86, would have imagined what police discovered yesterday morning. Authorities said William Wyman used a knife with a 3-inch blade to slit Jane Cooper Wyman’s throat before stabbing himself in the neck, ending their lives.

“They were good people, the kind of church members every church needs,’’ said Pastor Richard Malmberg of Second Congregational Church in Newton, where they were married on Aug. 5, 1944, and were parishioners for decades.

Police learned about the apparent murder-suicide from a relative at about 5:30 a.m. and forced their way into the couple’s home, where both were dead. Investigators said the husband left a note near their bodies, making it clear what he had done.

“We believe that this was a murder-suicide and that William stabbed his wife and himself,’’ said Lieutenant Bruce Apotheker of the Newton Police Department.

The husband apparently called relatives early yesterday and told them about his plan.

John L. Vaccaro, who lived across the street from the Wymans for 24 years, said that William Wyman suffered from serious health problems, but he did not know specifically what ailed him.

Police had responded to the home near Lasell College on Thursday for a well-being check, but authorities had never been summoned for domestic violence or any other type of criminal activity. No information was available about the call, including who asked police to check on the couple.

News of what happened in this quiet neighborhood, just off Route 16, spread quickly and left neigbors groping for answers.

“Obviously, I’m shaken up about this,’’ said Vaccaro, who knew the couple well enough to exchange pastries at Christmas. “They were good neighbors, very good neighbors. We’re going to miss them. I never thought anything like this could happen.’’

He said the couple were always warm, and recalled how they welcomed him to the neighborhood.

“They were one of the first people to greet us,’’ he said. “They did that with everyone.’’

Vaccaro admired how handy William Wyman was and noted how he restored chairs, frames, and that he “could sharpen lawnmower blades better than anyone else.’’

They didn’t appear to have any financial problems, he said, and were independent enough to drive around town in their Subaru.

Vaccaro last spoke to William Wyman by telephone on Sunday about their trash. He had asked Vaccaro if he could toss a few bags of garbage in a new trash system Vaccaro had set up, rather than wheeling his barrel to the curb.

“It was easier for him to do that,’’ Vaccaro said, noting the oddity of such a conversation with a man possibly considering suicide.

“It was just pleasantries,’’ he said of the rest of their conversation. “He seemed like himself.’’

Family members entered the house on Woodland Road yesterday after news of the deaths and were still there last night.

Other neighbors said they had not seen Jane Wyman recently, but they often ran into William Wyman while he ran errands.

Marie Bortone includes Woodland Road in her daily walks and said she saw William Wyman earlier this week puttering around his front yard.

“He was a real, real fine gentleman,’’ she said. “He would always wave and talk with you.’’

Bortone said she had no idea what could have propelled William Wyman to kill his wife.

“That’s why it’s such a big shock,’’ she said. “He was a very quiet man.’’

Since moving into the neighborhood more than a decade ago, Steven Jacobson said, he would chat with William Wyman on occasion about the history of the area where they lived. He had not spoken to Wyman much lately, but they saw each other around town.

“He was very affable,’’ Jacobson said. “It sure is shocking when there is someone, who is just a fixture in the neighborhood, all of a sudden is just gone.’’

Another neighbor, who asked that his name not be used out of respect for the Wyman family, said that for years his children had stopped by the Wymans for Halloween. He considered their deaths tantamount to losing a relative.

“They would both just light up when they saw the kids. . . . They were an integral part of the neighborhood,’’ he said, fighting back tears. “He was the institutional memory of the neighborhood.’’

The neighbor said the couple often played music together and summered in Falmouth until the property there was sold a few years ago.

“To these eyes, they appeared like a loving couple,’’ the neighbor said. “I feel compassion for both of them.’’

The couple spent several years worshipping at the United Parish of Auburndale and got to know the Rev. Ellis Johnson, the church’s former pastor.

“He was very gregarious, but he definitely had an edge,’’ Johnson said of the husband. “He had some anger. I don’t know the source of it, but she seemed very well liked and very outgoing.’’

He said William Wyman helped repair the church’s pews and did other projects to help out at the church. The couple returned to Second Congregational after their son went through a divorce and they felt United Parish supported their daughter-in-law more than their son, he said.

“I don’t know why he would take her with him,’’ Johnson said. “I would be surprised if it had to do with tension between them.’’

Malmberg of Second Congregational, to which the couple returned about a decade ago, described Jane Wyman as “a lovable spitfire’’ who “didn’t keep stuff in.’’

“You never had to wonder what her opinion was,’’ said Malmberg. “She always told me what she thought of the sermons. If she liked them, she told me. If she didn’t, she told me.’’

He paused when asked to describe William Wyman, whom he called “friendly, always helping out with stuff.’’

“I think the last couple of years were hard for him,’’ Malmberg said, declining to elaborate. “I would say in the last year, he wasn’t nearly as warm or engaging as he had been in the past.’’

Malmberg said he and parishioners were “completely blindsided’’ by the violence.

“We’re all pretty stunned,’’ he said. “This is a tragedy that we may never understand.’’

Andrew Ryan of the Globe staff and Globe correspondent Matt Rocheleau contributed to this report. David Abel can be reached at dabel@globe.com. John Ellement can be reached at ellement@globe.com.