Wife's last words: 'Why don't you just shoot me?'
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LAKE CUSHMAN, Wash. - A woman who was shot dead in her Lake Cushman home on Thursday told her husband, "Why don't you just shoot me?" before he opened fire at her with a shotgun, according to the Mason County Sheriff's Office.
The husband, identified as Christopher D. Thorson, 64, gave investigators that account of the events leading up to the deadly shooting of his wife, Vanessa M. Thorson, 55, said Mason County Chief Sheriff's Deputy B. Dean Byrd.
Christopher Thorson was arrested and booked into the Mason County jail for investigation of murder after the shooting. At his first court appearance Friday, he was ordered held on $1 million bail.
Byrd said it appears alcohol was a factor in the incident.
He said Christopher Thorson told detectives the couple had been fighting and arguing since early Thursday morning. The husband told investigators his wife kept calling him names and yelling at him.
Finally, according to Byrd, Vanessa Thorson said to her husband, "Why don't you just shoot me?"
Christopher Thorson told investigators he then went into the bedroom, assembled his shotgun and loaded it. He then went into the living room and shot his wife, Byrd said.
Investigators said Christopher Thorson then went out on his back deck, smoked a cigarette and had a glass of wine, then called 911.
Deputies and medics arrived at the scene, in the 100 block of N. Fairway Drive East in Lake Cushman, at about 4 p.m., shortly after the shooting. Nothing could be done for the wife, and she was pronounced dead.
Christopher Thorson was taken into custody without incident and has cooperated with officers, Byrd said.
A preliminary investigation found that the couple has been married for 37 years and had just moved to the Lake Cushman area from Steilacoom within the past two weeks, after Christopher Thorson took a job in the Shelton area.
Though the Thorsons were new to the neighborhood, neighbor Sam Hutson said it's shocking to hear that such violence can happen in such an idyllic community.
"It's insane," he said. "There's a lot of kids up here, a lot of elderly (people,) and everyone pretty much knows everybody."
Christopher Thorson's next court appearance is scheduled for April 23.
The husband, identified as Christopher D. Thorson, 64, gave investigators that account of the events leading up to the deadly shooting of his wife, Vanessa M. Thorson, 55, said Mason County Chief Sheriff's Deputy B. Dean Byrd.
Christopher Thorson was arrested and booked into the Mason County jail for investigation of murder after the shooting. At his first court appearance Friday, he was ordered held on $1 million bail.
Byrd said it appears alcohol was a factor in the incident.
He said Christopher Thorson told detectives the couple had been fighting and arguing since early Thursday morning. The husband told investigators his wife kept calling him names and yelling at him.
Finally, according to Byrd, Vanessa Thorson said to her husband, "Why don't you just shoot me?"
Christopher Thorson told investigators he then went into the bedroom, assembled his shotgun and loaded it. He then went into the living room and shot his wife, Byrd said.
Investigators said Christopher Thorson then went out on his back deck, smoked a cigarette and had a glass of wine, then called 911.
Deputies and medics arrived at the scene, in the 100 block of N. Fairway Drive East in Lake Cushman, at about 4 p.m., shortly after the shooting. Nothing could be done for the wife, and she was pronounced dead.
Christopher Thorson was taken into custody without incident and has cooperated with officers, Byrd said.
A preliminary investigation found that the couple has been married for 37 years and had just moved to the Lake Cushman area from Steilacoom within the past two weeks, after Christopher Thorson took a job in the Shelton area.
Though the Thorsons were new to the neighborhood, neighbor Sam Hutson said it's shocking to hear that such violence can happen in such an idyllic community.
"It's insane," he said. "There's a lot of kids up here, a lot of elderly (people,) and everyone pretty much knows everybody."
Christopher Thorson's next court appearance is scheduled for April 23.
