A wife and mother shot herself shortly after faxing a letter to her mortgage company saying that by the time they foreclosed on her home in Massachusetts that day, she would be dead.

TAUNTON

A wife and mother shot herself shortly after faxing a letter to her mortgage company saying that by the time they foreclosed on her home in Massachusetts that day, she would be dead.

Carlene Balderrama, 53, used her husband's high-powered rifle to kill herself on Tuesday, shortly after faxing the letter at 2.30pm.

The firm called police, who found her body an hour later. The auction was due to start at 5pm, and buyers arrived at the property while Balderrama's body was still inside, according to Taunton police chief Raymond O'Berg.

O'Berg said Balderrama's fax read, in part: "By the time you foreclose on my house I'll be dead."

O'Berg also said a suicide note told Balderrama's husband, John, and 24-year-old son to "take the life insurance money and pay for the house".

"I had no clue," said John Balderrama, explaining that his wife handled all their finances. "I'm just lost. I tell you, I'm beside myself."

He said his wife had been intercepting letters from the mortgage firm and shredding them without his knowledge. He had no idea she had not paid the mortgage in 42 months.-AP