Police: Dispute led to murder-suicide

RUSSELLVILLE - A mother of three children died late Tuesday after being shot by her husband in what police are describing as a murder-suicide.

Russellville Police Chief Chris Hargett said 23-year-old Miriam Martinez Castro died at Russellville Hospital emergency room from a single gunshot wound.

Hargett said Miriam Castro died not long after police found her husband, Francisco Alcides Linares Castro, 24, shot to death at the couple's home at 60 Long Leaf Drive. The residence is off Duncan Creek Road.

The shooting was reported at 9:25 p.m. Tuesday, authorities said.

Police investigators said it appears the shooting was the result of a domestic dispute between the man and his wife. Authorities said the initial investigation indicates the man shot his wife and then killed himself.

Officials said the couple had one child together, an infant, and the woman had two children from a previous relationship. All three children, only one of which was school age, were at home along with an aunt when the shooting occurred.

"(Francisco Castro's) sister told investigators that the children were upstairs and the wife was in the downstairs bathroom getting ready to take a shower," Hargett said. "She said when (Francisco Castro) got home, he went directly toward the bathroom, kicked in the door and they started arguing. She said she then heard the

gunshots."

Hargett said the children did not see the shooting but heard it.

He added that alcohol could have played a role in the shooting. Department officials said according to Francisco Castro's sister, there was evidence that he had been drinking when he got to the house.

Hargett said when police got to the location, they were met in the yard by the aunt.

"She directed officers to the bathroom of the house, where the two people were found, both laying on the floor," the chief said.

Authorities said Francisco Castro was pronounced dead at the scene, while his wife was transported to Russellville Hospital.

Investigators said both were shot once with a 9 mm pistol.

Hargett said a weapon, two shell casings and projectiles from the fired shots were found inside the bathroom.

Reports indicate Miriam Castro was shot once in the lower jaw, neck area, while Francisco Castro, who was manager of Auto Depot in Russellville, was shot in the head.

The bodies were sent to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences for

autopsies.

Hargett said the Franklin County Department of Human Resources was called in to take charge of the children. He said DHR placed them with family members living in the area.

Authorities said police had been called to the residence several times in the past on reports of domestic altercations.

"They had a history of domestic problems," Hargett said.

Officials said the couple had been separated but had gotten back together about two weeks ago.

"This was a domestic situation that got out of hand and ended tragically," Hargett said.

Heath Haddock, public relations and event manager with Safeplace, a shelter for abused spouses and their children that serves Northwest Alabama, said often domestic violence can lead to fatalities.

According to the Safeplace Web site, nwalsafeplace.org, in homicides in which the victim-killer relationship is known, one-third of female victims were killed by an intimate partner.

Also, in the U.S., a woman is more likely to be assaulted, injured, raped or killed by a male partner than by any other type of assault.

Officials with the National Domestic Violence Hotline said more than 10 murder-suicides, almost all by gun, occur each week in the U.S. In a study conducted from Jan. 1, 2005, to June 1, 2005, at least 591 Americans died in 264 murder-suicides and almost all murder-suicides involved a handgun.

The study indicated that 94 percent of the offenders in the murder-suicides were male and 74 percent of all murder-suicides involved an intimate partner.

Of those, 96 percent were females killed by their intimate partner, and 75 percent occurred in the home.

Tom Smith can be reached at 740-5757 or tom.smith@TimesDaily.com.