Nancy Shaw, 62, was killed inside her Fourth Street home in Fairmont, West Virginia, on the night of July 30, 2015. Police were called about 10:30 p.m. after neighbors and her fiancé reported hearing a woman screaming. Officers retreated when two gunshots sounded and called in the Marion County SWAT team; when they entered they found Shaw with a single gunshot wound to the head and her ex‑husband, Jeffrey Lynn Hovatter, critically injured from a self‑inflicted gunshot wound to the face.

Investigators later established a history of domestic trouble and that Hovatter had searched for Shaw’s address and phone number before driving from Preston County to confront her. The autopsy showed a close‑range gunshot to the forehead plus multiple contusions and skull fractures consistent with a violent struggle; gunpowder residue on Shaw’s left palm suggested she may have raised her hand to her face when the shot was fired. Hovatter was arrested while being transported for medical treatment, and a magistrate found probable cause to send the case to a grand jury. In September 2016 a Marion County jury convicted Hovatter of first‑degree murder and he was sentenced to life without parole.

Did anyone in the area know about the couple’s recent troubles or have information about the events that led up to that night?