2 dead in apparent murder-suicide in Circle Pines

CIRCLE PINES, Minn. -- Jillissa Levercom had never met her new neighbor Erica Wilson at the Village Plaza apartment complex in Circle Pines, but she says she heard Wilson Wednesday night.

"Group of us heard arguing...around 9 o'clock and it seemed to end and start up back and forth," says Levercom.

The argument led to something much worse Thursday morning.

It happened just before 8:00 a.m. Police say 46-year-old James Schwartzbauer shot and killed 38-year-old Wilson, then himself. The shooting happened outside in front of several witnesses.

"It was a call of an argument between two people. Officers arrived on scene and they say they heard shots fired," says Sgt. Russell Blanck with the Centennial Lakes Police Department.

Police say the couple had been together for 25 years and Wilson recently left their home in Wyoming, Minnesota trying to end the relationship. The couple was not married but had three children together.

Last week police say Schwartzbauer signed himself into Regions Hospital because of suicidal statements he had been making. He was released the next morning without being admitted.

A murder-suicide after a woman's attempt to leave is a scenario that is all too common when domestic abuse ends in extreme violence. Victim advocates say that is most dangerous time for an abused woman.

Amanda Vickstrom is with the Alexandra House, a battered women's shelter in Blaine.

"There are definitely points in a relationship where we know it is more dangerous for a woman. One of the most dangerous times for a woman is when she says she's going to leave or when she takes those steps to leave," says Vickstrom.

According to the Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women, six women have been murdered in Minnesota this year as a result of domestic violence. The Circle Pines shooting brings that number up to seven.

Investigators say the Wyoming Police Department had removed all guns from Schwartzbauer's home with his children's help. At this point, they don't know yet where the gun used in the shooting came from.

If you need help with a violent relationship call the state domestic abuse hotline at 866-223-1111.

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