Police say Jerry Dean Crenshaw shot and killed 61-year-old attorney J. Redmond Coyle in Pickens on Wednesday

DISTRAUGHT MAN KILLED WIFE’S ATTORNEY, THEN HIMSELF

It was a sad series of events that led to a murder-suicide in Pickens on Wednesday. And now the Upstate community is struggling to come to terms with the needless loss.

Police say Jerry Dean Crenshaw shot and killed 61-year-old attorney J. Redmond Coyle, who was representing Crenshaw’s wife in a drawn-out divorce. Crenshaw waited outside the attorney’s office and shot Coyle three times with a 9mm handgun before turning the weapon on himself.

From the Associated Press:

Crenshaw’s wife had hired Coyle after the pair filed for divorce in 2007, according to court filings. That divorce became final in May 2009, but the couple had been haggling over splitting up property they had owned together, said Harold Welborn, Pickens County clerk of court.

The most recent dustup came Jan. 27, when Crenshaw was served with a court order requiring him to sell a house and parcel of land he and his wife had owned and split the proceeds with her, Welborn said. Property records show the couple had lived in a Pickens home valued at more than $120,000. [...]

An off-duty police officer waiting on his wife nearby witnessed the shootings, and Coyle’s wife and daughter were there when he was shot, according to a police report. “The daughter stated that the man appeared out of nowhere and shot her daddy,” the report says.

Both men were rushed to area hospitals. Coyle was pronounced dead almost immediately, and Crenshaw died later that evening from a single shot to the head, authorities said.

It’s hard to state in words just what a tragic event this is. And in a small town of 3,000 people, it hits even harder. My thoughts and prayers go out to all of those impacted.