The small Texan town of Murphy is usually so safe that residents cannot remember the last time there was a murder.
But that peace was shattered this weekend.
Police are investigating a double homicide after they found two bodies in a house on Saturday.
Jonathan Masin, 40, and Amy R. Picchioti, 38, were apparently gunned down by a vengeful ex-girlfriend of Masin’s, Michele Boyer.
Officers found Boyer’s body some 13 miles away in her car. Investigators, reported WFAA.com, said she had taken her own life.
The exact motive of the killing is not known. But police revealed that Masin had recently received threatening messages from his ex-girlfriend.
“A note was found at the scene of the suicide, and it did have information that is related to the incident that is being investigated here in Murphy,” City Manager James Fisher told WFAA.com.
WFAAPolice discovered the bodies of Masin and Picchioti after carrying out a welfare check.
Masin and Picchioti’s bodies were found in separate rooms in the house and they were partially clothed and barefooted.
Masin lived at the address. Picchioti lived in Dallas.
Police entered the house after being asked to carry out a welfare check by a father of one of the victims.
Fisher said the incident was so rare that he could not remember the last time there was a murder in the town.
“It’s very rare. I do not recall of having one at any time.”
One resident, Sima Zolfaghareian, said she noticed the police cars and ambulance but “didn’t ask anything because I was so scared”, reported WFAA.com.
