Garden Drive bodies identified in apparent murder-suicide

The two deceased individuals discovered in a Boulder home on Aug. 27 have been identified.

According to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, the Montana State Crime Lab in Missoula determined the skeletal remains found in the home, at 508 Garden Drive, were those of David Leffler, 61, and his wife Ophelia Leffler, 57. Both individuals were discovered in the upstairs bedroom. The medical examiner determined the female’s cause of death was homicide and the male’s cause of death was a suicide. According to Jefferson County Sheriff Tom Grimsrud, the medical examiner did not give an exact time of death except that [the Lefflers] had been deceased for an extended period of time.

A firearm and an empty casing were located next to David Leffler’s corpse, which was one of several factors indicating a murder-suicide. Other factors include where the injury was to both people, the documentation provided by the medical examiner’s office and that – when observing the scene on Aug. 27 – Grimsrud said there were no signs of a struggle or forced entry into the residence.