Deadly Separation

"MONTICELLO, IN — A man shot and killed his girlfriend at their Monticello residence before killing himself, White County Sheriff Pat Shafer said Tuesday.

"Michael Bell, 47, shot Heather Taylor, 38, in the home they shared sometime late Monday or early Tuesday, the sheriff said. The two were `going through a separation,` he said.

"The sheriff’s department had released a news release Tuesday saying that two bodies had been found in a residence at 1178 Saddlebrook Court.

"Shafer said Taylor had talked to a friend Monday night, but when that friend did not hear back from her that evening or the next morning, she called police. The White County Communications Center received a request for a welfare check at 9:39 a.m. Tuesday.

"Officers from the sheriff’s department and Monticello Police Department responded to the residence and forced entry into the home. They found both dead in the bedroom.

"`Based on evidence recovered from the scene, information from family and friends and the results of an autopsy, it appears to be a murder-suicide,` Shafer said.

"He said Bell shot Taylor once with a handgun before shooting himself once.

"Police did not recover any kind of note related to the shooting, and Bell did not have a prior criminal history, Shafer said. The sheriff said `it’s hard to say` whether Taylor was asleep when she was shot."

From pharostribune.com...