A Phoenix police detective was reinstated to her job after being fired last year for creating a questionable slideshow for a holiday party.(Photo: Thinkstock Images, Getty Images)


Story Highlights
Police found four bodies scattered throughout the property
The estranged wife's body had been set on fire in the backyard
The couple were due in court earlier Tuesday for a hearing on a protective order the wife had sought against her husband

SHARE 12 MORE

PHOENIX, Ariz. -- Police found four people dead in a home Tuesday and believe a husband encountered his estranged wife as she was collecting belongings from their house, killing the woman, their teenage daughter and a family friend before turning the weapon on himself.


The victims were scattered throughout the property, police said, and the suspected gunman was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound near an alley behind the home, said Sgt. Trent Crump, a police spokesman.


The man in his 50s who owned the home and his wife were scheduled to appear in a Maricopa County courtroom at 9 a.m. Tuesday for a hearing related to a protective order the wife had sought against her husband, police said.


It was not immediately clear whether the hearing took place.


Police were last called to the house about a month ago, with the homeowner threatening suicide, Crump said.


Police first started receiving calls about 4 p.m. Tuesday with reports of shots being fired in the residential neighborhood, Crump said.


Police dispatchers could still hear gunshots in the background while the neighbors were on the phone, Crump said.


Investigators now believe the suspected gunman forced entry into the home as his wife was removing belongings with the teenage victim and the unidentified male, Crump said.


As they approached the scene, officers received a report of an individual who was down in the front yard, Crump said, and a police helicopter flew overhead and saw another victim in the backyard who might have been burned.


A witness saw the man gun down a family friend in the driveway. Police found the wife's body ablaze in the backyard and after a three-hour standoff with the gunman, they discovered the body of the couple's teenage daughter inside the home.


Many neighbors who came out to see the situation either did not know the suspected gunman or said they had infrequent dealings with him. Those who had interacted with the homeowner said that he seemed nice and normal, but they also pointed out that he was protective of his daughter.


After investigators revealed information about the murders, 46-year-old neighbor Jim Gil was shocked by the severity of the acts.


"I can't understand a mind that wants to do something like that," he said.


SHARE 12 MORE