Elderly Couple
(Photo : Twitter)

Two elderly couple was brutally killed and executed in a cemetery or just yards near the grave of their son, according to a recently published article.

U.S. Army veteran Paul Marino, 86 years old, and his wife Lidia Marino, 85 years old, always visited their son's grave in the DelawareVeterans Memorial Cemetery for the past three years except only if the weather is bad, according to their surviving 60-year-old son Ray Marino.

Ray Marino said: "It was like a regimen. Mom and Dad visited my brother's grave every single day, without fail, unless there was inclement weather. They usually went there in the morning."

According to Ray, his parents usually stand in front of the grave of his brother for 10 minutes or more to show to him how much they love him. They also offer him fresh flowers and most of the time spend minutes talking to their deceased son.

However, a tragic event happened to the couple while they were just yards away. They were fatally shot and executed by a man which seemed to be a random attack in the area on May 8 at around 10:15 in the morning.

It was a close friend who called and informed Ray about the shooting incident. Ray tried to call his parents' phone but they didn't answer. He was then informed by his other friend that his father was rushed to the Christiana Hospital in Delaware. 

Meanwhile, his twin brother Paul Marino Jr., who works as a maintenance manager for a company in Delaware, was told by his co-worker if he had heard a shooting incident in a cemetery where his parents visit everyday.

Paul Jr. said in a report: "I asked which one and when he told me, I said, 'Oh, my God.' I kept calling them, but I was getting no reply. I went into my office and started watching all of the (online) news about it." He also added "I could see my dad's station wagon parked at the cemetery. Then I knew." 

Their mother was pronounced dead at the scene on Friday just two days before Mother's Day while their father was rushed to the nearby hospital for treatment but died a day after because of his gunshot wound.

Ray said in another report: "My parents were in their 80s, but they were very healthy and active. They had five or 10 more years of good life left, I'm sure. I thought they would die from natural causes someday - not be executed by a stranger in a cemetery."

Suspect of the shooting incident was later identified as Sheldon Francis, 29 years old from Middleton, Delaware. However, he was also found dead due to a gunshot wound in a neighborhood near the cemetery. It is still not clear if the man killed himself or another person shoot and killed him.

The surviving sons of the elderly couple are still baffled with many questions on how and why their parents became the object of the crime knowing that the shooting was an act of random attack.

Ray said: "He came up behind them, pulled out a handgun, and did his thing. He shot our dad in the back of the head and then he shot our mom. We don't know if he shot our mom first in front of our dad or if he shot our dad first in front of our mom. We don't even know if they saw him."

Moreover, it was also found out that the couple just celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary and their son could still not believe in how they die in a seemingly senseless way. Until today, the motive of the crime remained questionable.

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