Police: New London town official kills domestic partner, then himself

NEW LONDON — A 78-year-old man shot and killed his domestic partner inside their New London home and then killed himself, state officials announced Wednesday.

Douglas Lyon called police to the Shaker Street home at 1:38 p.m. Tuesday. When officers arrived they found Lyon deceased outside the residence. Inside, police found the body of Peggy Brown, who was 73. The pair were domestic partners, police said.

Following autopsies, New Hampshire Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Mitchell Weinberg ruled Brown’s death a homicide inflicted by three gunshot wounds and determined that Lyon died of a single gunshot. His manner of death was ruled a suicide.

Lyon was the former vice president for Administration and Finance at nearby Colby-Sawyer College in this town of about 4,000 residents. He was the sitting chairman of the New London Zoning Board of Adjustment.

Based on the evidence, police determined that Lyon shot and killed Brown before shooting himself.

Lyon was a prominent figure and well-liked in town.

He was also a past selectman and the former chair of the board of trustees at New London Hospital.

At Colby-Sawyer, Lyon was known for concluding campus meetings with on-the-spot a capella songs such as “You’ve Got to Grow Your Enrollment” and “All I Want Are Some Beds Somewhere,” according to a celebration of his service in 2009.

“We all look forward to his a capella and hilarious productions and have learned to expect the unexpected from him,” college president Tom Galligan said at the time.

Lyon was a lifelong gun owner who believed in the recreational use of firearms and hosted a talk about responsible gun ownership with the New London Country Squires, a social luncheon group, in June.