AL- Victim, shooter identified in Good Hope murder

Posted in Related Deaths

4-6-2009 Alabama:

The Cullman County Sheriff’s Office has released the names of the victim and shooter involved in a murder-suicide in Good Hope Saturday evening.

Cullman Sheriff Tyler Roden confirmed Sunday that Sarah Francis Smithson Wren, 63, was shot and killed outside her home in a trailer park on Megan Lane. Roden also confirmed Johnny Ellis Mayo, 46, of Good Hope as the shooter.

Deputies received a call concerning a shooting in Good Hope at approximately 8 p.m.

Roden said Mayo, who also lived on Megan Lane, walked across the street to Wren’s residence and shot her with a 12-gauge shotgun while she was on her front porch. Roden said Mayo then walked to the back yard of his own house and shot himself.

“He left a note in his pocket, which was basically a will ... who he wanted some of his property to go to,” Roden said. “He was considering burning his house down as was indicated in his note.”

Roden noted that investigators found three gas containers full of gasoline in the bathroom of the shooter’s residence.

“And he had several more shotgun shells in his pockets,” Roden said.

Motive for the shooting has yet to be determined, but Mayo’s recent arrest for failing to register as a sex offender may have played a role. Mayo may have held Wren responsible for his arrest.

“We feel like that was one of the reasons he did the shooting, but we know for a fact that she wasn’t the one who reported him,” said Roden.

Investigators have also received information that Mayo had been under stress do to the recent death of his wife and recent medical problems of his own.

The shooting marked Cullman County’s first reported murder in more than a year. ..News Source.. by Patrick McCreless, STAFF WRITER

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AL- Good Hope man kills woman before shooting self

4-6-2009 Alabama:

GOOD HOPE - Cullman County authorities say a Good Hope man, whose personal troubles included his wife's death and a recent arrest, apparently shot a woman to death and then committed suicide.

Cullman County Sheriff Tyler Roden said 63-year-old Sarah Francis Smithson Wren was shot to death outside her mobile home. He identified the shooter as 46-year-old Johnny Ellis Mayo, who was recently arrested for not registering as a sex offender.

Roden said Sunday all indications are that it was a murder-suicide that occurred at about 8 p.m. Saturday.

Mayo walked across the street from his home and shot Wren while she was on her front porch. He then walked to his back yard and shot himself.

"He left a note in his pocket, which was basically a will ... who he wanted some of his property to go to," Roden said.

He said the note also indicated that Mayo was considering burning his house down. Investigators found three containers of gasoline in Mayo's bathroom.

Roden said Mayo may have held Wren responsible for his recent arrest, but he said she was not the one who reported him.

He said Mayo also had been under stress because of his wife's recent death and his own medical problems. The homicide was the first in Cullman County this year. ..Source.. by the Montgomery Advertiser