RUCH, Ore. — A man who allegedly killed his wife near the community of Ruch was formally indicted Thursday.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office said a domestic violence homicide happened in the early morning hours of October 20 at a home in the 3300 block of Little Applegate Rd. near Ruch.
According to JCSO, dispatchers received a call at 12:21 am for a gunshot victim. JCSO deputies and OSP troopers say they found the suspect barricaded in the residence, and then called in SWAT and JCSO’s Crisis Negotiator Team to help.
JCSO says at 2:49 a.m. a single gunshot was heard as the SWAT team entered the residence. Deputies found the suspect, 54-year-old David Allen Karnes, suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and the victim deceased from apparent gunshot wounds. Lifesaving measures were performed on the suspect and a Mercy Flights ambulance took him to a local hospital where he was listed as in serious condition.
Police say the victim, 54-year-old Constance Maria Murphy, was married to the suspect at the time of her death. Investigations are ongoing with JCSO detectives being assisted by the OSP Forensics crime lab.
On Thursday, the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office said Karnes was indicted by a grand jury for murder in the second degree on October 26.
No further information was released by investigators.
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