NEWTON, Mass. -- An elderly Newton man fatally stabbed his wife before killing himself at their home near Lasell College early Tuesday morning, according to police.

Police were advised of a possible murder-suicide at 290 Woodland Road at about 5:30 a.m.

"When our first officers arrived, they had to break down the door. Once inside, they found two bodies," Newton Police Department Lt. Bruce Apotheker said.

Officials found Jane Cooper Wyman, 86, dead from a stab wound to the neck, and her husband, William Wyman, 86, also dead from a stab wound to the neck in a bed.

Based on statements William Wyman made to family members and a note left at the scene, police believe that he stabbed his wife to death before then fatally stabbing himself. The knife appears to be a cutting tool with a three-inch blade, police said.

"We are pretty confident to believe there was a murder suicide," Apotheker said.

Crime scene tape was circling the house where the crime occurred, and the area was closed off between Windmere Road and Washington Street.

Neighbors said the couple lived at the residence with their son and grandson.

"It's a terrible tragedy for the family and the neighborhood as a whole," neighbor Steve Jacobson said.

"Very, very sad. They were nice people," one resident said.

The incident is the first murder in the city since January 2006 when Edward Schiller was killed in a parking garage along Route 9.