Helen Kathryn Masten, an 89-year-old White woman, died inside the Kenton, Delaware, home she shared with her longtime husband, Harold “Jim” Masten, on October 19, 2017. The couple had been married for 71 years and had built nearly an entire lifetime together before their deaths brought police to their residence on Cooper Street. Helen had devoted much of her life to her family and home while also handling the bookkeeping for Masten's Garage, the automobile repair business operated by her
husband. She was remembered as an enthusiastic fan of Elvis Presley and NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., and she and Jim enjoyed bingo, slot machines and spending time with their family.
At approximately 11:00 that Thursday morning, a relative went to the Mastens' house in the unit block of Cooper Street to check on the elderly couple and bring them breakfast. Although the residence was locked, the relative had a key and entered the home. Inside a bedroom, he found Helen and Jim suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. He immediately called 911, but both were pronounced dead at the scene. Delaware State Police initially described the incident as an active death investigation while detectives worked to determine what had happened inside the locked house. Authorities also reassured nearby residents that the deaths appeared to be an isolated event and that there was no known danger to the surrounding community.
The investigation ultimately identified the deaths as a murder-suicide. Harold Masten was determined to have shot and killed Helen before turning the firearm on himself. Because the person responsible died at the scene, there was no manhunt, custodial arrest or criminal prosecution. No outside intruder or additional suspect was identified, and the locked condition of the home, the location of the bodies and the evidence recovered inside supported the conclusion that no other person had participated in the shooting.
Reports surrounding the case suggested that the couple had been struggling with Helen's declining health and the emotional and financial pressures connected with her care. Those circumstances were cited as a possible explanation for Jim's actions, although they did not lessen the violence of what occurred or establish that Helen had agreed to die. Publicly available accounts do not describe a note, prior threat or documented plan that provided a complete explanation. The final moments inside the Masten home therefore remained known only through the physical evidence and the conclusions reached by investigators.
Helen and Jim left behind five children, four grandchildren, five great-grandchildren and a great-great-grandchild. Their memorial arrangements treated their deaths together as the end of a marriage that had lasted more than seven decades, but the police findings established a stark legal distinction: Helen was the victim of a homicide, while her husband was the perpetrator who subsequently died by suicide. With Harold dead, no charges could be filed, no trial took place and there was no conviction. Authorities found no basis to arrest anyone else, and the case was resolved as a domestic murder-suicide rather than an unsolved killing involving an unidentified suspect.
