Domestic situation gone bad
Story from Springfield News-Leaderwww.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080720/NEWS01/8072003213 bodies found in Barry County
Officials speculate man shot ex-wife, boyfriend, himself.
Autopsies are planned for Monday on the bodies of three people found shot to death Friday night near a high school sporting complex in Washburn.
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Officials speculated the case was a double homicide and a suicide and said further information should come to light in the next few days.
The dead are identified as Carl Miller, 42, his ex-wife, Rhonda Miller, 39, both of Washburn; and Donald Horton Jr., 45, of Bentonville, Ark., according to the Barry County Sheriff's Department.
A story on the Web site of the Bentonville Morning Sun newspaper on Saturday said Detective Robert M. Evenson of the sheriff's office identified Horton as Rhonda Miller's boyfriend.
Witnesses reported the three had been seen sitting on picnic benches and talking about 7 p.m. Friday, Barry County Sheriff Mick Epperly said.
The discussion apparently turned "heated," he said.
Rhonda Miller and Horton suffered multiple gunshot wounds from a 9mm pistol, including one gunshot wound each to the head, Evenson said.
A 9mm pistol was recovered at the scene, Epperly said.
State Trooper Les Wilson was on regular patrol about 10 p.m. and noticed some motorcycles and a Jeep in the parking lot near the Southwest High School's baseball field along Missouri Route 90, Epperly said.
Wilson saw three bodies on the ground and initially thought it was kids trying to hide from him, but quickly realized it wasn't, Epperly said.
The Sheriff's Department, along with the Missouri Highway Patrol, sent investigators to the scene.
Authorities who canvassed the area spoke with neighbors about what they may have seen or heard, Epperly said.
One neighbor said she heard gunshots but didn't see anything, he added.
"Sad it had to come down to this," Epperly said of the shooting.
Epperly said Carl Miller was "distraught" his ex-wife had a boyfriend and "kind of just snapped."
The Millers were the parents of a teenage son, Epperly told the Morning Sun.
The investigation is being handled by the Highway Patrol and Barry County Sheriff's Department.
Sgt. Mike Watson of the Missouri Highway Patrol told the News-Leader, "I think we'll find some more answers in the coming days. We need to get the autopsies done and get more interviews."
"We're still early in this," Watson said.