Apparent murder-suicide investigation underway in Crawford County

Appears husband shot wife then himself, sheriff says

CRAWFORD COUNTY, Wis. — The Crawford County Sheriff’s Department is investigating an apparent murder-suicide that happened Monday at about 5:30 p.m. in the town of Clayton.

It appears the 70-year-old husband shot and killed his 68-year-old wife inside their home on County Road X and then went outside and shot and killed himself, Crawford County Sheriff Dale McCullick said.

“I believe we have the ‘what’ happened,” Sheriff McCullick said. “Now we need to figure out the ‘why’ it happened.”

The sheriff’s department received a call of an unresponsive male laying in his driveway at about 5:30 p.m. Monday. When deputies arrived, they found the man dead from a gunshot wound. Investigators found a woman in the bedroom with a fatal gunshot wound.

The Wisconsin State Crime Lab was called to help process the scene for evidence and the Wisconsin State Patrol was called to complete a diagram of the crime scene.

Autopsies are being performed on the husband and wife on Tuesday. Their names have not been released yet.

Sheriff McCullick said the sheriff’s department was not routinely called to the couple’s home. The last call to their residence was in 2008 and the department has never been called there for a domestic.

Sheriff McCullick said investigators believe this was an isolated incident and there is no threat to the public.