Police: Va. Man Killed Wife, Then Self

Police say a husband and wife were found dead in their home in Warrenton, Virginia, and it appears to have been a murder-suicide.

It happened at a home on Pinnacle Drive. Investigators believe the man, 39-year-old Bruce Curtin, shot his wife, 30-year-old Tara Curtin, before turning the gun on himself. Luckily, the two children, ages 5 and 6, who were in the house at the time were not hurt.

Officers got a 911 call about shots being fired on Monday night around 9 p.m. That call was placed by the husband inside the home.

"He was answering questions of the dispatcher," said Chief Connie Novak, Warrenton Police Chief. "He was pretty calm, but he did admit to the first shooting and did admit he was going to take his life."

When police arrived, they found the wife dead of multiple gun shot wounds near the front door, and the husband was dead in the kitchen.

The kids weren't hurt, but they were shaken.

"They were inside in the stairway when we got here and they weren't saying anything," said Chief Novak. "They weren't screaming, but obviously in shock. They had seen quite a bit."

This is the latest in a string of domestic murder-suicides across the country and the third in the region since last week. First, a Middletown, Maryland man killed his wife and three children before killing himself. Investigators believe in addition to psychological problems, the man also had serious debt issues.

Then in Towson, a New York man killed his wife, two daughters, and then himself in a Maryland hotel room.

Police say in the Warrenton case, they had been called to the house for domestic issues before. They believe that as well as the husband's job-related stress may have led to that tragedy.

"We have talked to some of the neighbors and apparently he has been in and out of jobs for the last six months or so," said Chief Novak.

Neighbors describe the couple as friendly, always spending time with their children.

"We never saw them argue, be unkind to either on of them, or to their children," said Ellen Keuter, a neighbor who lives next door.

Police say the children are now staying with family members.