May 30, 2015 2 min read

WELLSVILLE (AP) – A woman killed along with a friend by her estranged husband who then killed himself had moved out of the couple’s southern Pennsylvania home but apparently returned to pick up some belongings, authorities said.

York County police said troopers found the three bodies after responding to reports of a shooting Friday night at a home in Warrington Township.

Coroner Pam Gay said Laurie Kepner, 54, of West Manchester Township and Barbara Schrum, 55, of Dover were killed – Kepner by a gunshot to the head; Schrum by a gunshot to the head and sharp force trauma to the neck.

The coroner said Martin Kepner, 60, who lived in the home, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Gay said her office was told Laurie Kepner left the home in December.

“She had not been living there for several months,” Gay said. “It was our understanding she came back to get a few things.”

Residents in the rural area expressed shock over the deaths.

“This is just a little kind of tight-knit community. Everyone around here seems to know each other,” Sharon Waldrup, a manager at the Dollar General in Wellsville, told PennLive.com.

Greg Groshek, who grew up in Wellsville, said Laurie Kepner was a seamstress who had sewn a new lining in his leather jacket, and at one point worked at PNC Bank in Wellsville.

“She was a real sweet woman,” he said.

Gay said the deaths were the county’s fourth domestic murder-suicide or attempt in about a month. She said the danger of domestic violence can be greatest when people have left or are leaving spouses or partners.

“We are told from domestic-violence experts that that’s one of the most vulnerable times for violence to occur in these situations,” she said.

While it’s understandable that people want to return to retrieve items of monetary or sentimental value, doing so can be dangerous without a police escort, Gay said.