A man apparently shot and killed his estranged wife in her Collinsville home overnight, then drove to Washington Park, where he sat in a truck and fatally shot himself, police said.
Patricia McNatt, 41, was found dead in her bedroom by her teenage son in the first block of Deer Chase Drive early Friday, Collinsville police Detective Sgt. Eric Zaber said.
There were no signs of struggle in the two-bedroom house, Zaber said. McNatt did have some defensive wounds, as if she had tried to protect herself. She had been shot more than once.
Relatives immediately suspected her estranged husband, Paul McNatt, 42. Patricia McNatt had recently filed for divorce, against his wishes.
A Collinsville officer heard the radio dispatch and went to a home in the 2100 block of North 60th Street in Washington Park, where Paul McNatt had been staying. Police found him slumped over in a truck parked outside, dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. A .38-caliber handgun was with him — the same gun investigators believe was used to kill Patricia McNatt.
Zaber said the couple had three children, ages 17 to early 20s. They previously lived in Fairmont City and Washington Park.
"It was known there were some domestic problems brewing," Zaber said. The detective said Paul McNatt "was not comfortable with the idea of divorce."
Paul McNatt's relatives told police that he had become increasingly violent — physically and verbally abusive — since he suffered a severe head injury in a motorcycle crash.
Patricia McNatt filed for divorce on Sept. 21, about a week after seeking an order of protection against her husband, according to St. Clair County Circuit Court records.
The McNatt family is associated with STMP Entertainment and a nightclub in Washington Park, Blondies. Both Patricia and Paul McNatt are listed as officers for the company. A woman who answered the phone Friday said the manager was unavailable due to a death in the family.
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