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Hillsborough deputies rule death of Riverview couple a double-homicide

 
Medical examiners work at the scene where the bodies of Virgil Best, 70, and Shirley Best, 69, were found inside their Riverview home early Thursday. Their deaths were ruled homicides.
Medical examiners work at the scene where the bodies of Virgil Best, 70, and Shirley Best, 69, were found inside their Riverview home early Thursday. Their deaths were ruled homicides.
Published Nov. 13, 2015

RIVERVIEW — The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said a couple found dead in their home Thursday were victims of a double-homicide.

A family member found the husband and wife dead of "upper body trauma" about 6:15 a.m. and called 911, according to Hillsborough sheriff's Col. Donna Lusczynski.

The victims were identified as Virgil Best, 70, and his wife, Shirley Best, 69. The couple's home at 10719 Dixon Drive sits on 7 acres that also house the family fish farm business.

Onlookers watched as investigators spent the day processing the crime scene behind yellow tape. The medical examiner removed the bodies around 4 p.m.

Earlier Thursday, sheriff's officials refused to discuss what they found inside the house, or to classify the manner in which the Bests died. Lusczynski said then that the investigation was in its early stages and that deputies were still interviewing neighbors and family members.

"At this time, we don't believe the neighborhood is in any danger, or that it was a random act," she said.

The colonel said during an afternoon news conference that investigators were waiting for the medical examiner to perform an autopsy to determine an official cause of death.

The announcement that their deaths were ruled homicides came around 8:30 p.m.

A few houses from the crime scene, Gail Crowley, 72, wondered Thursday afternoon how her neighbors died.

"I saw the tape this morning," she said. "I knew there was something wrong."

She was shocked to wake up and find what she called a quiet neighborhood filled with sheriff's vehicles, some lining the narrow streets, others packed in a neighbor's driveway.

Crowley has lived down the street from the Bests for about 40 years. She described them as "loving and giving people."

She said residents of this rural neighborhood tend to keep to themselves and enjoy their land. Crowley said the Bests had a camper and enjoyed the outdoors. But their main focus was on breeding the tropical fish they kept in ponds behind their house.

"The fish farm kept them busy," she said.

Contact Sara DiNatale at sdinatale@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3400. Follow @sara_dinatale.