On June 27, 1987, the body of 87-year-old Fannie Shelton was discovered on the floor in her room at her nursing home, 4134 E 31st St, with a wound to the back of the head. Workers initially believed her death to be accidental, thinking she may have fell or tripped and hit her head on something. They attempted to call Shelton's son, Wayne Shelton, 66, but could not reach him. Instead, they called his neighbors to ask to inform Shelton. A neighbor went to Wayne's home at 5732 E 22nd St, and upon entering found the bodies of both Wayne and his wife Dorothy, 63. Wayne had shot his wife in the back of the head as she lay in bed, before going into the bathroom and laying in the bathtub, firing a fatal shot into his own head. An hour later, police arrived at the apartment of Norma Harris, Wayne Shelton's sister, in order to inform her of the deaths. Upon entering the apartment, Harris, 69, was found dead of a gunshot wound to the back of the head. A son of Wayne living in Texas would later receive a suicide note, with Wayne admitting to killing his mother, wife, and sister. He said in the note that he was tired of seeing them suffer from health issues, and he was sorry for what he was going to do. Fannie had been confined to the nursing home, and both Dorothy and Norma had suffered strokes. Wayne had various unknown health issues himself, related with aging.