Murder-suicide possible cause of deaths of former state Sen. Schaefer and husband

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Murder-suicide possible cause of deaths of former state Sen. Schaefer and husband
By Mashaun D. Simon and Aaron Gould Sheinin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

9:09 p.m. Friday, March 26, 2010

Conservative political activist and former state Sen. Nancy Schaefer and her husband Bruce have died of an apparent murder-suicide.

"There will be a thorough investigation to determine what happened," GBI spokesman John Bankhead told the AJC. He could not say who might have been the shooter. Six GBI agents and two crime scene technicians are at the scene of the Schaefer home in Haberham County.

An announcement was made around 7:30 p.m. Friday on the floor of the Georgia General Assembly.

Sen. Don Thomas, a physician and who said he knew the couple well, said he believed Bruce Schaefer, 74, had cancer.

“In those moments, you are not at your complete sanity," said Thomas, of Dalton. "Some people figure the best way is to end it for both of you. They were married for so long. Loved each other so much. When you see somebody that you love so much, every now and then, you think the best way out of it is to go and be with the Lord. ”

Schaefer, a former Atlanta mayoral candidate and two-term senator, was beaten by Habersham County Commission Chairman Jim Butterworth in a north Georgia Republican runoff in 2008.

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http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/murder-suicide-possible-cause-408021.html?cxtype=rss_news_81963