Saraland, AL: 68-year-old Saraland man kills wife, self; couple married less than a year

By David Ferrara
November 18, 2009, 5:30AM

SARALAND, Ala. -- Married less than a year, 68-year-old Robert Lathan shot and killed his wife, Shelby Lathan, 65, in their Saraland home and then turned the gun on himself, police said Tuesday.

His daughter from a previous marriage discovered their bodies Monday evening inside their red brick, ranch-style home on Pake Road and called authorities, according to neighbors and Saraland Police Chief Kevin Anderson.

The couple were in separate rooms, the chief said, and police found a handgun on Robert Lathan's body. Anderson would not say what kind of gun was used, where the two had been shot or how many shots were fired.

Shelby Lathan, formerly Shelby Giglio, had lived in the home for about 15 years, according to neighbor Nettie Kenny.

"She was just as nice as she could be," Kenny said.

Kenny said she did not see Robert Lathan often.

Estelle Langam, who lives across the street, said the neighborhood, with moderate homes on broad property in the northwestern part of the city, was normally quiet.

"We never see any trouble around here," Langam said.

There were no signs of the murder-suicide outside the Lathan's home Tuesday morning. Two white rocking chairs rested motionless on the front stoop, and a gray Chevy Silverado was parked in the driveway.

Robert Lathan had assisted funeral directors at the Radney Funeral Home's three Mobile-area locations for the past two years, according to general manager Bill Smithweck.

Smithweck called Lathan a "wonderful employee. He came to work every day with a smile on his face."

"We're all very saddened and grieve for Bobby and the family," Smithweck said.

Anderson said there was no history of domestic violence at the home. The couple married Jan. 17, and Shelby Lathan had filed for divorce May 8, citing an "incompatibility of temperament," according to court records. But she asked the court to dismiss the divorce three weeks later, saying the couple had reconciled.

The double shooting marked the fourth homicide this year in Saraland, Anderson said. That's an unusual rise for the relatively quiet north Mobile County city, which he said typically sees no more than one murder a year, but the chief said that each was a "random, isolated incident."