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Police: Couple died in murder-suicide

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said Tuesday that a man found dead in a northwest Charlotte home earlier this month had fatally shot his wife before turning the gun on himself.

The deaths of Ida and Clyde Valentine had been under investigation since Nov. 1 when a man called police and said he had found his parents’ bodies in a home on Swift Arrow Lane.

A search warrant indicated that both had been shot, and that Clyde Valentine had tape on his mouth.

Police said early on that they believed the deaths were domestic-related, and a spokeswoman later said that detectives were not looking for a suspect.

On Tuesday, police said their investigation and analysis of evidence at the scene led them to determine the deaths were a murder-suicide. They also said there was no indication that anyone else had been involved in the killings.

Police said they’ve shared the results of the investigation with relatives of the Valentines.

Clyde Valentine had been under investigation earlier this year for child-sex crimes. He was charged in June with taking indecent liberties with a child, and later charged with statutory rape. Police said during the summer that the charges involved a relative.

At the time of his arrest, Valentine was an electronics teacher at Phillip O. Berry Academy in Charlotte, where he had worked for just over a decade. He was put on leave by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools after being charged in June and was terminated by the district as of Oct. 31.

Bethea: 704-358-6013. On Twitter: @AprilBethea

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