THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 4, 1995 TAG: 9504040308
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
A domestic argument ended Monday in the slaying of a Navy woman and the suicide of her husband, whose bodies were found in the couple's military-housing duplex by their 11-year-old daughter, authorities said.
The names of the 36-year-old first-class petty officer and her 37-year-old husband were withheld until their families could be notified.
Naval Criminal Investigative Service agent Klain Garriga said ``an ongoing domestic disturbance'' was the apparent motive for the murder-suicide in the Shelton Housing area on the Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base, near the intersection of Shore Drive and Independence Boulevard.
A Navy source who asked not to be identified said that on Sunday the woman had asked for a divorce, sparking a loud and bitter dispute that continued into Monday.
The husband told his wife ``he'd kill her first,'' the source said.
About 3 p.m., the husband kept his word and shot his wife several times as she was sitting on the living room couch, police said.
The man, a civilian, then put the muzzle of the .38-caliber revolver, a Colt Detective Special, into his mouth and pulled the trigger.
The husband's body also was found in the living room, investigators said.
Neighbors said they didn't hear the shots.
Shortly afterward, the couple's daughter returned from school and tried to get into the house, the left-side unit of a brick-and-siding duplex.
The front door was locked, so the girl looked into a window. She saw her mother slumped on the couch. The television was still on.
The girl went to the home of a neighbor, who called police.
The girl and her 5-year-old brother ``are now in the care of family friends,'' said Navy Capt. John E. O'Neill Jr.
Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents methodically documented the crime scene for several hours as crowds of neighbors gathered and packs of children played outside the yellow police-line tape.
The case will be closed because the suspect in the homicide killed himself, authorities said.
This is the 14th time since 1990 that a man has killed his wife or girlfriend in Virginia Beach. Eight of those cases ended in suicide.
O'Neill said Navy officials were working to locate relatives of the couple, who had lived in the Juno Road duplex just a few weeks. Some relatives were on their way to Virginia Beach late Monday, Navy authorities said.
Although the two-day argument about the divorce ended violently, neither Navy authorities nor city police had been called to the duplex because of marital disputes or fights, officials said. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
CHARLIE MEADS
``An ongoing domestic disturbance'' was the apparent motive for the
murder-suicide on Juno Road in the Shelton Housing area on the
Little Creek base.
KEYWORDS: MURDER SUICIDE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHOOTING DOMESTIC
DISPUTE MILITARY HOUSING by CNB