By Brad Zinn/staff
bzinn@newsleader.com
FAIRFIELD — The Rockbridge County Sheriff’s Office reported late Thursday night that 61-year-old Nancy Sullenberger was killed at her Fairfield home Wednesday evening during a domestic dispute involving her estranged husband.
Sullenberger was a special education teacher at Kate Collins Middle School for three years, according to Waynesboro Assistant Superintendent Vermell Grant.
“It took us by shock. As a division we’re very saddened by this,” Grant said Thursday. “Nancy Sullenberger was the type of person whose personality was very engaging. She was one of those people that cared a lot about other people.”
Sullenberger’s husband, 63-year-old James Sullenberger, also was found dead at the scene. Authorities said he died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The sheriff’s office said it received a 911 call from a Sullenberger family member Wednesday evening stating that James Sullenberger was inside the home and had discharged a weapon, according to a press release. There was a protective order in place prohibiting him from entering the residence.
The incident is still under investigation. The Rockbridge County Sheriff's Office stated the deaths might be the result of a murder-suicide.
At the request of a Sullenberger family member, on Thursday afternoon Larry Taylor, a neighbor of the Sullenbergers, was guarding the gravel driveway leading to their house at 86 Dockside Drive in Fairfield. Taylor said the couple had been separated for about six months and that Nancy Sullenberger was living at the home while James Sullenberger was staying in nearby Lexington.
“They were both good people,” he said.
Authorities began swarming the area Wednesday evening around 8:30 p.m., according to Taylor. Word quickly spread through Fairfield that both Sullenbergers were dead. “We found out (Wednesday) night before we went to bed,” Taylor said.
Because of the Rockbridge County Sheriff’s Office refusal to divulge any details about the case until late Thursday night, it remained unclear throughout the day if a murder-suicide or a double homicide had occurred.
Taylor said James Sullenberger was a well-known insurance salesman based in Lexington. Taylor said his neighbor welcomed him into the neighborhood three years ago when he moved there with his family.
“He brought us trees and flowers,” Taylor said. Both the Taylors and the Sullenbergers also would keep an eye on each other’s pets while on vacation, he said.
Taylor said he found it difficult to believe that James Sullenberger committed a murder-suicide.
“I wouldn’t have suspected that at all,” he said. “I wouldn’t expect that in a million years.”
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