Wife had order of protection against husband prior to murder-suicide

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HARRIS, Minn. -- In rural Chisago County, houses are far apart, but neighbors are close.

Roland and Mavis Ramberg thought they knew the neighbors down the road, Doug and Candice Ouellette, who were both  38 years old.

Their grandchildren and the Ouellette's 10-year-old son and 8-year-old twin girls were friends.

"They seemed like a nice couple," says Mavis.

Then on Wednesday night, the Rambergs realized that something was clearly wrong.

"All I saw was squad cars, upon squad cars and helicopter," says Roland

One of the Ouellette's little girls had called 911. Investigators say Doug strangled Candice to death in their home, then hanged himself in an outbuilding.

"I can't imagine anything worse than having your dad kill your mom and then kill himself," says Chisago County Chief Deputy Bob Shoemaker.

Court documents filed in Chisago County detail the couple's troubled marriage. In June, police were called to the Ouellette's home for an attempted suicide.

In her own words, Candice tells the court that Doug locked himself in the pole barn with guns, held a revolver to his head and threatened to kill himself.

At that time Candice received an order for protection, an order authorities say was later terminated by the agreement both she and her husband.

But at the end of June, Candice filed for divorce, with a no contact provision.

"It looks like there was a stipulation in the paperwork that allows him to go to the outbuildings during daylight hours between 9 and 5 pm," says Shoemaker.

The documents also reveal the couple may have been having some financial problems. Candice was working from home. Her husband was part owner of a family construction company. Friends say business had been slow.

At this point, authorities don't know yet what triggered Doug Ouellette's final violent act. Investigators are continuing to talk with family members, while friends like the Rambergs try to understand their deep sense of loss.

"You just feel kinda crushed because what are those poor kids gonna do," says Mavis.

Authorities say the three children were not harmed physically and are now staying with family members.

In the transcript of the 911 call made by the little girl, she tells the operator that she tried to push her father away from her mother.

Doug Ouellette himself told the operator that the kids were just playing and were told to leave the phone alone.

Including this case in Harris, eight women in Minnesota have been murdered in 2009 as a result of domestic violence - three were murder-suicide by an intimate partner.

In 2008, 6 of 21 domestic murders in Minnesota were murder-suicides by intimate partner. In addition there were 4 attempted suicides after the murder.

Harris is about 50 miles north of the Twin Cities.

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