http://www.theunionleader.com/Articles_show.html?article=30066&archive=1DEERFIELD — A turbulent marriage scheduled to go to divorce court tomorrow instead came to a violent end when a Deerfield woman’s estranged husband fatally shot her and a male acquaintance yesterday, then killed himself.
Robert P. Reece Jr., 45, shot Wanda M. Reece, 41, and Carl Stewart, 43, of Pittsfield, with a 12-gauge shotgun in the Reeces’ rural 91 Griffin Road home early yesterday morning, and then shot himself with a .44-caliber Derringer handgun, police and a state prosecutor said.
Police found out about the shootings from a 911 emergency call shortly after 3 a.m., Assistant Attorney General James D. Rosenberg said.
The couple’s two children, Lisa, 15, and Kori, 11, were not injured.
“The children are not harmed. They’re safe and they’re in good hands,” said Lt. Russell S. Conte, commander of the State Police Major Crime Unit. Authorities would not say whether the children witnessed the shootings or if they made the 911 call.
The deaths have been ruled an apparent double homicide and suicide while authorities continue their investigation. Autopsies are scheduled for this morning.
Robert and Wanda Reece, who were married 15 years and separated more than a year ago, were supposed to appear in Derry District Court tomorrow for their divorce trial.
Robert Reece’s out-of-state job forced the two-day trial to be delayed until tomorrow.
Reece said his wife — a state-employed drug and alcohol abuse counselor — habitually abused alcohol throughout their marriage and accused her of having an adulterous relationship with Leonard Anderson of Alexandria, according to court documents he filed March 18.
In one of several requests for protective orders made by both spouses during the last two years, Reece sought a temporary restraining order against his wife Sept. 11, 2002. He claimed her alcoholic relapses and blackouts were harming their children.
Reece, in his statement to the court, said his wife attempted suicide twice and attended five rehabilitation facilities for her alcoholism.
He also claimed in court records that she was convicted of three drunken driving charges and was convicted of an assault charge against one of her children in 1995. He later withdrew the domestic violence petition.
Both Wanda Reece and Stewart worked for the state Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Recovery, said John Stephen, Health and Human Services commissioner.
Wanda Reece was involved in drug and alcohol abuse counseling; Stewart was a dormitory supervisor, he said. Both were enrolled in programs to become certified in drug and alcohol abuse counseling.
Wanda Reece filed for divorce in October 2002. She has two sons from a previous marriage, court records show.
The couple jointly owned the 91 Griffin Road home, although Robert Reece had worked in Texas and later took a job in California when the couple separated. He last worked at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in California, court records show.