Story Published:
Sep 4, 2008 at 8:15 PM EDT
Story Updated:
Sep 4, 2008 at 11:58 PM EDT
NBC Augusta is learning more about a murder-suicide in Burke County.
Two families are dealing with grief and unanswered questions.
"All I heard was a shot down at the church and I knew right then it was a deadly shot," said Cleo Scott, Gary Lee Scott’s father.
Cleo Scott is still trying to understand why his son would do the unthinkable.
Wednesday night Burke County investigators say Gary Lee Scott got into an argument with his wife, Calandra, after he found what he thought was a love letter to another man.
"He said there's a man involved and if I find out, I'm gonna kill her and she knows I'll kill her," said Cleo Scott.
And investigators said that's what happened.
"He couldn't take it...his mind snapped," said Elizabeth Scott-Brens, Gary Lee Scott’s aunt.
The couple's youngest daughter called her grandmother and told her about her parents fighting.
Deputies said Gary Scott drove Calandra to the church the family attended and shot her.
Calandra's mother said by the time she got there, it was too late.
"She was lying on the ground and I checked her pulse to see if she was breathing but she wasn't," said Shirley Printis, Calandra’s mother.
But the tragedy didn't stop there.
"The baby girl told one of the police, go check on my daddy because he said he's gonna kill himself too," said Scott-Brens.
Investigators found Gary Scott behind his house, lying on the ground. They said he killed himself.
Now, Calandra's mother is left with nothing but a picture and the memories they shared.
“Me and my daughter were like sisters instead of momma and daughter. We went everywhere together," said Printis.
Both families tell NBC Augusta what a wonderful mother and father the Scott's were.
Their three children are staying with Calandra's mother.
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