Villa Park police: Husband, wife found dead in apparent murder-suicide

A Villa Park couple who died in an apparent murder-suicide in their home are being described by neighbors as nice people who largely kept to themselves.

Villa Park officers were dispatched at 1:18 p.m. Wednesday to the white-brick house on the 200 block of Julia Drive, police said Thursday. Officers found the front door of the house open and received no response from inside.

When officers entered, they discovered two people - 63-year-old Charles Dubrovin and his 56-year-old wife, Theresa - with gunshot wounds. Paramedics responded to the scene, but both people were dead.

Detective Sgt. Dan McCann said the crime was confined to the residence and there are no public safety concerns.

"It's a murder-suicide, but obviously we've got a lot of things we have to verify," he said.

An autopsy was being conducted Thursday afternoon and police are in the process of interviewing family members and people the couple knew, McCann said.

Two adult children lived at home with the couple, but they were not present at the time of the shootings, police said.

According to DuPage County records, the home is under foreclosure and set to be sold in June.

Steve Burke, who lives three houses down, said he was shocked and saddened to hear about what happened. He said the couple moved from Addison into the home when their children were still in high school, about five to seven years ago.

"They kept to themselves but it wasn't where they shied away from anybody. You could always say hi to them, walk down and say 'How's it going?' stuff like that," he said.

Burke said he saw several squad cars and paramedic units on his street Wednesday afternoon, but none of their emergency lights were on.

"There was never any problems," he said. "You never heard any yelling, any screaming, anything like that."

Burke said he believes Charles Dubrovin retired early because of a "bad leg" that prevented him from working and Theresa Dubrovin worked at the Target store in Lombard.

Sean Coulter, who lives two houses down, said Theresa was more talkative than Charles, who he often saw mowing the lawn. He recalled a time when he was playing a prank on another neighbor and she saw it and laughed, promising not to tell on him.

"They seemed like nice people," he said. "It was a surprise to everyone around here, especially on this block. The cops never come down here."

Villa Park police said this is the first homicide in the village since 2010.