SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) - Police say a man who had been arrested for threatening to kill his estranged wife shot her to death three days later, while he was out on bail, and then killed himself.
Michael Scott Salley, of Stonewall, was arrested Tuesday, but was released a day later on $50,000 bond, The Times (https://bit.ly/1iSM5kR) reported.
Investigators say Salley kidnapped his estranged wife, Gwen Salley, on Friday in DeSoto Parish and killed her and then himself in southwest Caddo Parish. The couple had a 7-year-old daughter, who was not with them.
For Salley’s family and others who knew him, the scenario was all too familiar.
In January 1999, Salley’s brother Charles Salley - a convicted stalker with a history of domestic abuse in other relationships - shot his ex-girlfriend, 38-year-old Michelle Riley, as she left work. He then killed his 3-year-old daughter, Miranda Faith Salley. He pointed a gun at himself and then at police, who shot and killed him. The gun was empty.
Riley’s friends and Miranda’s family crusaded to change domestic abuse laws and how stalkers and abusers were handled in courtrooms. And they won a number of changes.
Miranda Salley’s grandmother, Wanda Anglin, said the two brothers’ cases have striking similarities.
“This has just upset me so much and it’s devastated my daughter,” she said of Kris Anglin Barney, Miranda’s mother.
Wanda Anglin only learned Saturday about Friday’s deaths. It brought back memories of the night Miranda was killed.
“It takes a long time. You don’t ever get over it. You just learn to live with it,” Wanda Anglin said of the anguish domestic violence inflicts throughout families and generations. “It just brings it all back; the fear, the disbelief, the heartbreak.”
Investigators say Michael Salley abducted Gwen Salley outside a day care in Stonewall, where she had arrived to pick up their daughter.
Deputies had gone to their house in Stonewall twice before Tuesday: in May 15, 2011, for a domestic disturbance and that October to take a report about a stolen four-wheeler, Capt. Pat Jones said.
On April 15, Gwen Salley filed for divorce, saying she should have primary custody and Salley should be ordered into an alcoholism treatment program.
She also asked for a court order to keep Salley away from her home and work. A hearing was scheduled May 19.
On Tuesday, a relative called deputies. They arrived around 7 p.m. and learned that Michael Salley had been holding Gwen Salley and their daughter in the house at gunpoint for about two hours, Sgt. Brett Cooper said.
Gwen Salley told them she had changed all the locks a day earlier, but Michael Salley had somehow gotten in and emerged with a .45-caliber handgun.
“He threatened to kill her . and he told her he was going to call 911 so that someone would come get their daughter before killing himself,” Cooper said.
Gwen Salley was able to calm Michael Salley; she later texted a relative from the bathroom.
Michael Salley was booked into the DeSoto Parish Detention Center on charges of false imprisonment, offender armed with a dangerous weapon and aggravated assault with a firearm. He bonded out the next day.
On Friday, investigators say, Michael Salley, was waiting in a car bought the day before when Gwen Salley arrived to pick up their daughter. He bolted out of his vehicle and into hers, shotgun in hand.
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Information from: The Times, https://www.shreveporttimes.com
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