Two dead in Perry County after apparent murder/suicide, sheriff says

PERRY COUNTY, Mo -- A Scott City man shot his estranged wife Monday evening outside her rural Perry County home, Sheriff Gary Schaaf said.

Deputies were called to the mobile home at 149 Rocky Lane about 7:15 p.m. by a girl who said her mother had been shot by her father. They found Stephanie Lynn Shuffit, 36, lying outside the home with a gunshot wound to the chest, Schaaf said.

A witness said he was helping Shuffit repair a lawnmower when John Albert Shuffit, 53, pulled into the driveway and got out of his vehicle with a rifle, Schaaf said. The neighbor told investigators he retreated behind the home, heard a short exchange and a shot. John Shuffit then drove off.

Stephanie Shuffit (photo provided)

When deputies found John Shuffit, he had driven about 10 miles away to a spot on Perry County Road 854 in the far western portion of the county near Silver Lake, Mo. "That's where he shot himself," Schaaf said. "We believe it was with the same rifle."

Shuffit used a .3030 rifle and one bullet on his wife and one on himself, Schaaf said.

There were three children, the youngest 11 and the oldest 16, home at the time of the shooting, he said. None of the children were threatened or harmed.

Stephanie Shuffit (photo provided)

The Shuffitts were apparently in the process of obtaining a divorce, Schaaf said.

According to records available online, John Shuffit filed for a legal separation or annulment in January 2008 in Scott County. That case was dismissed Feb. 26 and no further legal action could be located in records available Monday evening.

The investigation was continuing, Schaaf said.

"I don't know what drove him to come up [Monday]," he said.

John Shuffitt listed an address of 706 W. Second St. in Scott City in the court papers filed seeking the separation.

Perry County Coroner Herbert Miller said he was called to help with the investigation about 7:30 p.m. He said he found the woman's body outside, but would not elaborate on the gunshot wound.

Miller also would not comment on John Shuffit's apparently self-inflicted wound.

"It is an ongoing investigation and we are not done yet," Miller said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent addresses:

149 Rocky Lane, Perryville, MO

706 W. Second St., Scott City, MO