LSU professor shot wife in murder-suicide

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CARRIERE -- A Louisiana State University professor shot his wife to death at their home over the weekend before he turned the gun on himself, officials said.

Victoria Burton, 61, also known as Victoria Burton-Claycomb, was found dead in their home on Pinetucky Road in the Henleyfield community on Saturday night, Pearl River County Coroner Derek Turnage said.

William Claycomb, 73, was flown to Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg, where he died early Sunday.

William Claycomb was a professor of biochemistry at the LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans, according to the school's website.

Turnage said he will rule the killings a murder-suicide.

Victoria Burton-Claycomb was experiencing some health problems Saturday night and had called some friends to take her to a hospital, said Chief Deputy Shane Tucker of the Pearl River County Sheriff's Department. One of them called 911 at 8:24 p.m.

"Our deputies went in and saw Victoria on the floor in the kitchen," Tucker said. "It appeared she had been shot in the head. They went to the bedroom and located William. He was awake but was unable to move."

The coroner said it appeared William Claycomb had shot himself in the mouth.

Investigators have heard William Claycomb was suffering from a terminal illness but Tucker said he has not confirmed that yet.

"There's still a lot to investigate," Tucker said. "We've subpoenaed medical records and are waiting to get autopsy results back, but we do believe the husband shot the wife and then shot himself."

No information has been released on a possible motive.

William Claycomb received his doctorate from the Indiana University School of Medicine. He had been a research associate in biological chemistry at Harvard Medical School and was an assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston until 1976, when he joined the LSU staff.

He also was an investigator for the American Heart Association.

The fatal shootings are the county's second within a week and occurred about a mile from the other incident, under investigation as a double homicide.

On the previous Saturday, Jan. 23, Jason A. McLemore, 44, and his son Jacob Edward McLemore, 17, were shot multiple times and died after an exchange of gunfire at McLemore Gun Shop on Mississippi 43. Officials have said James McLemore's wife was tending the store and had contacted her husband about a customer who reportedly was upset over a $25 service charge for a gun repair job.

Audy McCool, 52, and his son Michael McCool, 29, received life-threatening gunshot wounds.

Tucker said no charges have been filed yet in that incident.

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Investigators have heard William Claycomb was suffering from a terminal illness

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Sounds like an old sick couple that wanted to leave this world together on their own terms

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old sick couple that wanted to leave this world together on their own terms

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61 and 73??? Yea so old...

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My statement was a general statement because it seems to happen quite a bit.

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