Tom Marcelle said getting the news that his friend and former co-worker had been murdered was unreal.

He said, "A murder is, you just can't understand it. Your mind just can't put its arms around it. It's difficult for me to understand it right now."

Police said 52-year-old Peter Porco was found dead at his home on Brockley Drive in Bethlehem around 11 a.m. Monday.

Marcelle said, "I'm in shock. I mean, what can you think? You're dismayed. Here's a young family. He was a law clerk to a judge. He was just a good friend, and it was terrible to hear about it. At first it doesn't even registered. I mean, you're kind of in denial when you first hear it."

Police responded to a 911 call from a concerned co-worker when Porco didn't show up for work Monday.

Lt. Tom Heffernan said, "Upon the officers' arrival and we gained entrance into the house, we located the homeowner, Peter Porco, 52 years of age, downstairs just inside the residence. Mr. Porco is deceased."

Porco was found in the downstairs of the home with blunt force trauma to the head. His wife Joan was found in the bedroom badly beaten with multiple head injuries. She was taken to a local hospital where she underwent surgery. There is no word on her condition.

Neighbor Laura Rosenthal said, "I whole-heartedly feel for anyone involved with this crime. It just really shakes you to the bone."

Neighbor Debbie Swift added, "It's a very quiet neighborhood, and you never hear of anything like this."

Police spent a better part of the day looking for the couple's two sons. They located 21-year-old Christopher Porco at the University of Rochester where he goes to school. Their other son, Jonathan, is in the Navy. Police stress the sons are not suspects at this time, but they do want to talk to them to find some much-needed answers.