Springfield, MO: Police confirm Nickols case is murder-suicide

According to relatives, Jason Nickols was generous, kind and loving.

On Thursday, police said Nickols shot his wife, Doris Nickols, and then shot himself. The couple was found dead Monday inside their home on South Fremont Avenue.

According to police, Doris Nickols was shot three times, including two fatal shots, while Jason Nickols died from what appears to be a single, self-inflicted shot to the head.

No suspects are being sought at this time, police say, adding a weapon was recovered at the scene.

Lori Nickols, Jason’s ex-wife, said Thursday that during the 12 years she had been with him, Jason had never been violent or raised his voice and that she couldn’t imagine him ever hurting someone.

The couple started dating in 1993 and were married on July 30, 1995. They divorced in 2005, Nickols said.

“I don’t think I will ever believe what they say is true,” Nickols said of what police say happened.

Ginger Lawson, a friend of Jason and Doris, had kind words for the couple. She said Jason was a dedicated and loyal UPS employee, where he worked for more than a decade, and Doris was “sharp as a tack.”

Lawson, who lives in Florida, said in 2011 she vacationed with the Nickols in Nassau. She provided photos of the couple smiling and embracing.

“We were all the best of friends,” Lawson said.

Court documents detailed grievances the couple allegedly had against each other. In a March 12, 2011, request for court-ordered protection, Doris Nickols detailed abuse at the hands of her husband.

“I am afraid for my life,” she wrote in the petition.

Doris Nickols wrote that she had been kicked in the chest and thrown on a concrete floor in the days before she filed the documents. She wrote her husband drank a 30-pack of beer per day and had taken her gun.

Two day later, Jason Nickols filed a protection order of his own against his wife.

In those documents, Jason Nickols said, “Doris struck, kicked and owns a 9-mm pistol. I called 911 and officers responded (but) I did not press charges and am filing for a divorce.”