EXCLUSIVE: Bristol husband: “She was deceased when I got here”
By Kirsten Glavin
@kirstenglavin
BRISTOL, RI – Mark Gustafson was returning to his home on Sowams Drive, Friday evening, in a hurry. He said his bank called him, warning that someone had tried to cash a forged check in his name. He left his second job immediately so he could tell his wife.
"She was deceased when I got here,” said Gustafson.
Gustafson told ABC6 News exclusively on Sunday, he found his wife, 66-year-old Eudora Gustafson, murdered on the first floor.
"I just freaked out. I tried to give her CPR… it was already too late anyway but I didn’t know that and I figured maybe I could do something."
Gustafson called police and later found that checks, jewelry, prescription drugs, and his wife’s car were all missing. He said he knew right away that his grandson, Raymond Paiva, 24, and his wife Selena Martinez, 21, were responsible. The couple had been living upstairs in Gustafson’s home after losing their jobs in October.
"He stole her checkbook, tried to cash a check for $400. And then the bank caught it, it was not my wife’s signature. And that’s why the bank called me,” Gustafson explained. He added that he believes the motive was money, and that it wasn’t the first time Paiva had stolen from them.
"He’s been up to no good since day one."
According to police, Paiva and his wife lead police on a brief chase through Providence before officers opened fire on Branch Ave. Witnesses described hearing at least 5 gunshots ring out. The couple was to the hospital, where Paiva remained in critical condition until Sunday. Both, as of Sunday night, were taken into Police custody.
No weapon was ever found on neither Paiva nor Martinez. The incident is under investigation by the attorney general’s office, and state police.
Gustafson showed ABC6 News around his empty house, left covered in crystal trinkets; small reminders of his wife.
“(I feel) Destroyed. Violated. The loss of my life,” said Gustafson.
