An umcomfortable situation

Let me first fill you all in on some of the back story:
As most of you probably know I am very close to a few of our neighbors. One of my very best friends lives across the street and to the south and then I have another very good friend that lives across the street and to the north. Between them is the house that this particular story is about.
When we moved in here we met some neighbors, but mostly we kept to ourselves. We did talk to the guy that lives directly to our south (who since then has become a surrogate grandpa to my kids...just a really great guy) and we had a few "conversations" with the man and woman who lived directly across from us. These conversations consisted mostly of him scolding us for parking on the street where it was hard for him to back his truck out of the driveway. After we had Natalie and then about a year later they had their son, the woman and I began talking a little bit more. If we both happened to be outside at the same time we would meet in my yard and let the kids play. One day she was over on our porch while the kids were playing around and the man was in his yard shoveling up stickers. Apparently the dogs needed out and instead of just putting down his shovel he yelled across the street that she needed to come let them out. Now, if it was me or any of my friends we would have laughed and told our husbands to do it their own selves. It would have been more of a joke than anything. But she asked if I could keep an eye on her son and ran over, let the dogs out, waiting while they did their business, and then let them back in. Then she came back over to get her kid. This one interaction showed me so much about the relationship between these two people. He was the one in charge and she followed his orders. It made me sick. And it just got worse and worse until two years ago it completely blew up.
She had moved into a trailer they both owned and he was still at the house here in the neighborhood. From all the stories (from their mouths directly and other neighbors) he thought she was cheating on him and so he went over and beat the crap out of her. She of course filed charges and he was due for a court date. On that day I woke up and looked outside and there were at least ten cop cars, cops running down the street with guns drawn, and just pure craziness going on. He ended up committing suicide in his bedroom with some kind of gun.
This brings me up to yesterday. The house recently sold and the closing date is Tuesday. The couple that bought it were there yesterday painting and doing various repairs. I was out front with the girls while they played with Vanessa's new bubble mower. They said hi when they were about ready to leave and so we all stopped to introduce ourselves and talk a while. I was telling them what great neighbors we have and that this was a pretty nice neighborhood. Then they asked me if I knew the people that lived in their house before them. I didn't know what to say. I didn't want to completely freak them out. If I had just bought a house and found out that the guy who lived there before me had killed himself in what was going to be my bedroom I would feel uncomfortable to say the least. So I said I kind of knew them but that they "weren't around" for long after we moved here. So I was so ambiguous. And I know I sounded weird because I was all "uhhhh....", "well....", and there were several awkward pauses while I decided what to say.
What would you have done? Would you have come straight out and told them? Would you never tell them and just kind of hope that it never came out (which is not a very promising prospect considering we have yearly block parties and some of us hang out regularly...and I'm sorry that is one of the most bizarre things that I have ever experienced and we do still talk about that day)? Would it make you mad if someone could have told you a few days before closing but didn't?
After I talked to them I ran inside and told Larry of my dilemma and he just kind of grinned in a way that told me he was happy it wasn't him out there. I also called my neighbor friend and asked her opinion. She pretty much backed me up, but I think she was glad she wasn't out there too! It was just so uncomfortable. I'm sorry this has turned into such a long post, but I hope to get some good advice before the next time I see this couple.