It was a tearful workday Monday as employees at the Town of Clyde mourned the inexplicable loss of their coworker, Charles Palmer Jr., whom they all describe as kind-hearted, generous and level headed.

In a case that has stunned the small town, detectives with the Haywood County Sheriff's Office say Palmer, 48, shot his wife, Judy, who was 51, multiple times with a large caliber handgun Friday around 8:45 p.m. at their home at Lookout Point in Clyde. He then turned the gun on himself.

"The information we received was that there was some sort of domestic dispute between the two and evidently it transpired into a shooting," said Sheriff Bobby Suttles.

The couple's two sons, age 20 and 17, were home at the time, although they were not inside the house, he said. One of the sons called 9-1-1 ...