Update: a sad story, but sounds like a legit case of self defense.
http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx ... a6db096d76
Home quarrel ends in death
By KRISTEN SENZ AND KATHRYN MARCHOCKI
Union Leader Correspondent and Union Leader staff
NEWBURY – A Londonderry firefighter shot and killed his wife in the driveway outside their home Sunday afternoon after she fired a shotgun at him and continued to confront him with the weapon in her hand, state prosecutors said yesterday.
Gary M. Dion, 37, called police shortly after shooting his wife, Karen, 38, in the driveway of the couple's 76 Mountain Road home about 2:30 p.m.
State and local police took Dion into custody for questioning and held him overnight at the New London Police Station. He was released early yesterday morning, Senior Assistant Attorney General Jeffery A. Strelzin said.
No charges have been filed.
Newbury Police Chief Robert Lee said the investigation "appears to be leaning toward" a determination that Gary Dion acted in self-defense.
Strelzin said there is no set time frame for the Attorney General's Office to conclude that aspect of the investigation.
"Sometimes we're able to make a determination in less than 24 hours and other times it can take as long as a year," Strelzin said. "We're looking at all possibilities."
State prosecutors said yesterday the couple quarreled prior to the shooting. A short time later, Karen Dion took a shotgun and fired it at her husband as he cleared the driveway during Sunday's snowstorm.
New Hampshire State Police investigators search for evidence yesterday at the Newbury home where a Londonderry firefighter shot his armed wife to death on Sunday.
After his wife confronted him again while still holding the shotgun, Gary Dion retrieved a handgun and killed her, police said.
The Dions were home alone when the shooting occurred.
Strelzin said Gary Dion was not injured when his wife shot at him, but would not say how many shots she fired or if the shots missed. He said investigators believe they know what the Dions were fighting about, but he would not elaborate.
A records check at New London District Court turned up no documented history of domestic disputes between the Dions. Lee said his department's only recent contact with the couple was when they registered their dogs and obtained gun permits.
"Oh, my gosh," whispered local mini-market clerk, Anu Saini, after a reporter told her it was Gary Dion who killed his wife.
Dion was a regular customer at the Exxon Mobil station in Newbury where he often dropped by to buy gasoline, coffee, cigarettes and beer, Saini said.
"We didn't have any problems with him," she said.
Karen Dion was the stepdaughter of Richard Wright, who has been a Newbury selectman for nearly nine years and previously owned a hunting and fishing supply store on Route 103. Jim Powell, chairman of the town's board of selectmen, declined to comment on the shooting.
Karen Dion at one point worked on an ambulance crew, but had been out of work since she was injured in an automobile accident several months ago. Chief Lee said she was still suffering from headaches related to the accident.
Gary Dion joined the Londonderry Fire Department on July 23, 1998, and was promoted to lieutenant in April, 2005, said Londonderry's human resources manager, Donna Pratt. No decision has been made to remove him from active-duty status until the results of the criminal inquiry are known, she said.
Londonderry Fire Chief Michael Carrier did not return calls for comment.
Gary Dion was also a member of the United States Mine Rescue Association, based in Uniontown, Pa., according to the group's Web site. Rob McGee, a representative of the association, did not return a call for comment.
An autopsy was performed yesterday, Strelzin said. Results are expected today.
Newbury police and state police assigned to the Major Crime Unit continued to gather evidence at the couple's home yesterday which remained a crime scene. The house will be released to Gary Dion once investigators have concluded their work, Strelzin said.
Police blocked off Mountain Road in front of the Dions' house for several hours Sunday.
"It's a tragedy," said Mountain Road neighbor Kevin Nemcovich, of the news.
Other neighbors said they realized something was wrong when they saw police cruisers speeding past their houses with lights and sirens on.
Robert Ross of 48 Mountain Road said his wife thought she heard gunshots Sunday afternoon. "Shortly after that, it was blue lights all over the place," he said.
The Dions were already living in the neighborhood when Ross moved in eight years ago, but he said he knew them only in passing.
"They tend to keep to themselves, and so do we. The majority of the times when we saw them, either she was walking the dogs or she and he were walking the dogs together," he said.
"You don't expect much to happen around here," he said of the small town on the shore of Lake Sunapee. "It's kind of a hard thing to swallow."
He said he does not believe the couple have children.
