Police: Men involved in Janesville murder-suicide knew each other, had relationship with same woman
JANESVILLE, Wis. — Police say the two men who died in an apparent murder-suicide in Janesville knew each other and had relationships with the same woman.
Police were called to a home at 1105 Kellogg Avenue at about 10 p.m. Thursday night after witnesses heard 9 to 10 gunshots and a woman screaming in the area. At a press conference Friday, Janesville police say they found two men dead outside the home and a woman who was screaming and distraught.
“We rarely have crimes of this nature happening in Janesville,” said Janesville Police Deputy Chief Todd Kleisner. “Anytime there’s gun crime involved, we’re very concerned.”
Police say a 43-year-old man from Madison and a 27-year-old man from Janesville died in the incident.
The Janesville Police Department says its initial investigation has found that the 43-year-old man lived with a 28-year-old woman in Madison and had a child together, but the two recently began having problems in their relationship, and the woman had recently rekindled a previous relationship with the 27-year-old man.
Police say all three worked together at the same business in Stoughton. When the 27-year-old man was not at work when he was supposed to be, police believe the 43-year-old man knew he was with the woman, went home to get a 9mm handgun, and went to the 27-year-old man’s home in Janesville.
“It is unusual, typically a perpetrator may only fire a couple of shots. This appeared to be like a crime of passion – that he was genuinely upset with the gentlemen he targeted,” Kleisner said. “It is a tragedy for that family – for both families, actually. This is something that probably could have been avoided.”
According to police, the woman was at the 27-year-old man’s home, and the 43-year-old man confronted him outside before shooting him several times before shooting himself. The woman was not hurt.
Janesville police say they will not be identifying any of the people involved, citing Marsy’s Law, which was passed to protect victims of crime.
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