If a wife shoots you, there is usually a good reason.
If this truly was a case of abuse their are a million safe houses for abused women and children to hide out in in America. It is not like the guy was in the mafia. Even the wives of mafioso's have been protected from abusive husbands in safe houses.
There is just no excuse for this sort of behavior. The only one I can think of is if a spouse (male or female) had a gun to that person's head or one of the children's and needed to be taken out in self defense. Poor children, never poor wife--she's a murderer plain and simple.