Green Cove Springs, FL: No warning signs in apparent murder-suicide in Green Cove Springs

Neighbors of Clay County resident Robert Church said Sunday his tangled history with Gary Ward — Church's ex-wife later married Ward — had not shown any signs of ill will or confrontations over the years.
They shared parenting of the children from Church's marriage to Netty Sue. Neighbors would see Gary Ward drop off Church's son for visits to his father.
But on Saturday, Ward arrived at Church's trailer home with just a gun in his hand, according to the Clay County Sheriff's Office.
Inside the trailer home, Ward pointed the revolver at Church, who fled toward the back of the home. In a corner of the bedroom, Ward shot Church once in the head, authorities said.
Ward, 49, of Lawtey then pointed the revolver at his wife, Netty Sue Ward, who had recently told Ward she was leaving him, authorities said. But instead of firing at her, Ward turned the gun and shot himself in the head.
The sheriff's office called the killings a murder-suicide.
Netty Sue Ward's marriage to Church had ended 13 years ago, authorities said Sunday. She then married Ward but, in the past two weeks, had left him, according to the sheriff's office. On Friday, she decided to move back in with Church at his trailer home, authorities said.
The shooting occurred about 5 p.m. Saturday at the trailer home in the 1600 block of Warfield Avenue in a rural part of Green Cove Springs.
Kenneth Eiland, a longtime neighbor of Church, said when he previously saw Ward at Church's house, the relationship between them did not seem tense. He said Ward was stepfather to several of Church's children.
"The times I met [Ward], he seemed laid back," Eiland said. "There was never any hostility."
He said he thinks Ward "just couldn't handle" his wife's decision to move back in with Church.
"That was the breaking point," he said.
On Sunday, neighbors and friends gathered outside Church's trailer. In better times, it would have been a joyful scene because Church, nicknamed "Bones" because he was tall and thin growing up, welcomed people coming over and hanging out.
His friends remembered him Sunday as someone who had a "big heart," always in a good mood and willing to give a helping hand. He often rode his motorcycle, a Honda he jokingly called a "Honda Davidson."
"Everybody was family," said Chad King, 24. "If he liked you, you were good. He would do whatever he could to help you. I've never seen him mad at anybody."
It was the second murder-suicide this year in the Green Cove Springs area.