Former police officer kills wife, then himself

The Canon City Police Department is mourning the loss of two of their own after a murder-suicide.

Thursday night, Police went to a home in the 700 block of Whipple Avenue to check on 49-year-old Priscilla Samento. Samento hadn’t shown up for her late night shift as a dispatcher and wasn’t answering her phone.

Inside the home, police found her body along with her husband, 56-year-old retired Canon City Police Officer, Daniel Samento. Investigators believe Daniel shot and killed his wife before turning the gun on himself.

Neighbors say they recently noticed a deterioration of Daniel’s health…both physically and mentally.

“We knew something was going on just because his physical health was starting to deteriorate and we were worried but you don’t know what to do unless somebody really asks for help,” said neighbor Keith Leonhardt. “He was still a super guy, you could just tell he was having problems but we didn’t think that kind of problem.”

Daniel was a Canon City Police Officer for 30 years. His wife, Priscilla, was a dispatcher for 21 years.