Former Georgia Senator Nancy Schaefer Murdered by Husband

The AJC reports:

The husband of a former state senator shot his wife before turning the gun on himself in the couple's Habersham County home, the GBI said Saturday night.

A handgun and several letters, including a suicide note written by Bruce Schaefer to family members, were found in the home he shared with Nancy Schaefer, his spouse and the one-time Georgia politician, according to John Bankhead, GBI spokesman.

"A GBI medical examiner determined that Mrs. Schaefer died from a single gunshot wound to the back and Mr. Schaefer died from a single gunshot wound to the chest," Bankhead said in a statement.

Autopsies on the Schaefers were conducted Saturday afternoon, and investigators said all evidence indicates the deaths were a murder-suicide.

The bodies of Bruce and Nancy Schaefer, 74 and 73, respectively, were found Friday evening around 6 p.m. by their daughter at the couple’s Clarkesville home. The daughter, one of the Schaefers’ five children, lived in the same gated community as her parents and entered the home when she was unable to reach them. After finding her parents dead in their bedroom, the woman called 9-1-1.

According to 11 Alive, financial problems were cited as a possible cause of the killings in Bruce Schaefer's suicide note. As we've discussed on this blog before, financial problems can often make men predisposed to violence feel out of control. To feel better, many begin to exert more control in other areas of life, like over their spouse or partner. After all, if they just wanted to escape their problems they would only commit suicide. Instead, they kill their partners first and then end their own lives on their terms as a final act of power and control.