Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 29, 1994 TAG: 9412290128
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SARAH HUNTLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Salem police had not received any previous complaints of domestic violence from the apartment Larry and Jackie Wells shared at 300 W. Main St., Chief Harry Haskins Jr. said.
But the couple had troubles. They had broken up twice since last winter and were having financial problems before the shooting, acquaintances said.
Shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday, paramedics, police and the Emergency Response Unit, a police tactical team, responded to a 911 call from Jackie Wells, 40, who said her husband had shot her in the midst of an argument.
Jackie Wells had run into her landlady's apartment next door to escape her husband, Larry Thomas Wells, 52. He followed her and fired a .22 handgun, police said. The bullet tore through Jackie Wells' cheek and exited her mouth. She called for help and was taken to Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where she was listed in satisfactory condition Wednesday night.
Police surrounded the duplex, crouching behind their cars and protective gear, as a tactical team officers tried for an hour and a half to coax Larry Wells out. They heard no response from inside, Haskins said, and at 11:39 a.m. a four-man entry team kicked down the front door.
Larry Wells was dead in the bathroom, apparently having shot himself in the head with a Chinese-made assault rifle, police said. An autopsy is expected to be performed today.
"Mrs. Wells said he had gone back into their apartment and that she heard an additional shot or two after he shot her," Haskins said. "But we had to assume he was still in there, armed and dangerous."
Police found no note inside. "I think this was a spontaneous thing," said Haskins, who added that he did not know what started the fight.
Though not legally separated, Jackie Wells moved into Apartment 2 alone in August. Mary Hall, the daughter-in-law of the Wellses' landlady, said Jackie Wells lived there for several months before her husband rejoined her.
"They'd broken up," Hall said. "That's why my mother-in-law rented the place to Jackie."
Before August, the couple had lived for 12 years at 2221 W. Main St. According to their previous landlady, Kathleen M. Young, they had separated last winter but got back together.
Young said the couple were "model tenants" until this summer, when they told her they couldn't afford to pay the $320-a-month rent and moved out.
Jackie Wells is a sewing machine operator for Oak Hall Cap & Gown. Larry Wells hadn't worked for 15 years because of a disabling back injury, Young said.
Vickie Dudley, who lives in the Wellses' old house, said that shortly after she moved in, police and bill collectors came looking for Larry Wells.
"I've had people knocking on my door saying Wells owed them money, and the police came. They wanted to serve him with papers. They said he was a habitual offender and that he was unstable," she said.
Salem police on Wednesday night were unable to confirm whether they'd had any prior contact with Larry Wells.
Young and her son, Neil, said Larry Wells was polite and meticulous. "He repaired clocks," Neil Young said. "Boy, we gave him a huge cuckoo clock in a shoe box of parts and he put it back into perfect condition. He paid attention to details."
But Neil Young said Larry Wells also was paranoid.
"He was afraid hospitals were out to do him wrong. He was afraid of car dealers. He was afraid of everything," he said. "It's real sad it had to end this way."
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB