An 89-year-old man and his 86-year-old wife were found dead inside their Newbury Park home Monday after a relative asked deputies to check on them when he couldn't reach them by phone. Ventura County Sheriff's Office deputies forced their way into the house on Lucas Court and discovered the bodies of Aleksander Tukalski and his wife, Kazia Berlach Tukalska, along with a gun recovered somewhere inside the residence.
According to yahoo.com, deputies were called to the home around 11:15 a.m. for a wellbeing check after a male family member requested that they look in on the couple. That report states deputies forced their way inside and found a deceased man and woman, who were later identified as the 89-year-old husband and his 86-year-old wife.
Investigators recovered a gun at the scene, though officials have not disclosed who may have used it or how it factored into the deaths, per the same account. Sheriff's officials said the cause and manner of death will be determined by the Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office, a determination that has not yet been made public.
Officials Call Deaths Isolated, No Danger to Public
Sheriff's officials said Monday that the deaths appeared to be isolated and that there was no threat to the public, according to the same report. That assessment was offered even as basic questions about what happened inside the Lucas Court home remained unanswered.
There is a discrepancy in reporting on the status of the investigation. The article from yahoo.com quotes officials stating, “This investigation is ongoing,” while NBC Los Angeles reports that the sheriff's office had completed the death investigation. The two accounts have not been reconciled.
Neighbors and family in the Newbury Park neighborhood are left with few details beyond the fact that a routine welfare check, prompted by a relative's concern after being unable to reach the couple, ended in the discovery of both spouses dead inside their own home. No further information about the circumstances of Aleksander Tukalski and Kazia Berlach Tukalska's deaths has been released.
