NEWARK -- No one may ever know what words were exchanged between an estranged husband and wife in the moments before he unleashed the desperate, violent fury that had driven him to stalk and threaten her since their separation. Robert Channel, 50, shot and fatally wounded his soon-to-be ex-wife during a confrontation Tuesday morning in the parking lot of the CVS Pharmacy on West Main Street, according to Newark police. Capt. Steven Cochran said the two were in separate cars, but it's unclear how they got there. It appeared Vicki, 47, was shot multiple times as she was trying to flee in a Pontiac Grand Am, according to Cochran and a Newark police press release. Neighbors told The Advocate on Tuesday afternoon that Robert regularly drove by Vicki's new home. The victim wrote that she was in "fear for my life" in requesting a restraining order. "TWO DIFFERENT CARS, TWO DIFFERENT PEOPLE" The discovery of the carnage unfolded before the eyes of a CVS employee who called in to the Licking County 911 Center. She had originally relayed a concern of a man passed out in his vehicle. On a second call, she can be heard saying that there is "lots of blood" and "we don't think he's alive." Then, the true extent of Robert Channel's bloody actions were realized by the caller. "There's two! ... Two different cars, two different people," she said. The scene is directly adjacent to Flint Ridge Village, a nursing and rehabilitation home, and the shootings occurred right around breakfast time, according to a couple of residents. Dan Burgess, who lives in one of the units closest to the CVS, said he heard six or seven shots as he was walking to the kitchen. "Pow-pow, pow-pow, like that," Burgess said, describing the rhythm of the gunshots. Soon police and medics arrived in droves. Vicki Channel was transported to Licking Memorial Hospital, where she later passed away. Robert's body was removed from his Chevy Camaro by a courtesy hearse about an hour later. A blue dolphin figurine hung from the rearview mirror of Vicki's car and swayed in the wind that passed through a window that had been shot out in the deadly assault. A parking pass from her nearby employer, Licking Memorial Hospital, rested above it. Shattered glass was littered all around both cars. SEPARATION Vicki Channel was likely viewing her husband of 10 years in that rear view mirror earlier Tuesday morning as he followed her as she dropped off their daughter at day care before beginning her work day, according to Tonya Clay, Vicki's neighbor and friend. Vicki and her two children -- an 18-year-old son from a previous relationship and a 9-year-old daughter with Robert Channel -- moved into a new trailer in the Amber Mobile Home Park on Irving Wick Drive in June. For a while, Vicki was able to keep the location of her new residence secret from Robert, but when he found out he continued the same behavior that he had shown when she lived at her cousin's home following their breakup in May. "He since has been stalking me, calling me at work, jeopardizing my job," she wrote in an affidavit for a protection order on July 22. "Leaving threatening voice messages on my voice mail at work." Robert was a frequent, unwelcome visitor to his wife's new home, and Clay said that he had been spotted that morning driving the Camaro through the park. Clay learned he was trailing them after she called Vicki to warn them on her cell phone. Clay and her daughter Logan Higgins, 10, were broken up over the news that was just starting to sink in. "She was a sweet lady, just as sweet as can be," Clay said, adding the mother-daughter pairs had forged a close bond in the short time they lived next door to each other. |
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