In a quiet Chesterfield County home, a long life shared between a husband and wife came to a tragic and violent end. On September 30, 2025, police were called to a residence in the 3000 block of Waddington Drive for a welfare check. Inside, they discovered the bodies of 73-year-old Madeline Chloe Bowen Roberts and her 77-year-old husband, Henry H. Roberts.
Both had suffered fatal gunshot wounds and were pronounced dead at the scene.
The preliminary investigation by the Chesterfield County Police Department pointed to a grim conclusion. Authorities believe that Henry Roberts shot his wife, Madeline, before turning the gun on himself in an apparent murder-suicide. The couple had been married for 45 years. As the investigation determined the perpetrator was also deceased, there was no ongoing threat to the community and no arrests to be made.
Madeline Bowen Roberts was born on July 11, 1952. In the wake of the tragedy, plans were made for a memorial to be held at the VCU School of Social Work in Richmond, Virginia, to honor her memory. The investigation into the couple's deaths continued, leaving friends and family to grapple with the sudden and heartbreaking loss.
