VIRGINIA BEACH
A wife and husband fatally shot Monday night died in a murder and suicide, respectively, the medical examiner's office has found.
Police responded to the 4200 block of Maplehurst Road in the Timberlake section around 9:50 p.m. Monday and discovered Steven P. Butcher, 43, dead of a gunshot wound, and his wife, Donna L. Butcher, 40, wounded. She died a short while later at a local hospital.
Autopsies Tuesday determined that Steven Butcher died of a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head, said Donna Price, an administrator for the medical examiner's office in Norfolk. Donna Butcher died of a shotgun wound to the arm and torso, and her death was a homicide, Price said.
Police said the shooting was the result of an argument between the couple. Their 5-year-old son was home at the time, but initial reports indicate he was asleep, said Officer Jimmy Barnes, a police spokesman. Child Protective Services took custody of the child and will turn him over to family, he said.
The shooting shocked the Butchers' neighbors, who said they'd never heard the couple fighting. The family was often seen together, playing in the backyard or leaving for the beach, neighbor Susan Kellam said.
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