Sheriff's wife, deputy among 4 dead in shooting outside sheriff's house in Florida

ap wire ^ | Jan. 31, 2007 | ap

[varina davis]

Sheriff's wife, deputy among 4 dead in shooting outside sheriff's house in Florida

By MELISSA NELSON (Associated Press Writer) From Associated Press January 31, 2007 1:53 AM EST

MARIANNA, Fla. - The wife of a rural sheriff, a deputy and two suspects were killed Tuesday evening in shootings outside the sheriff's home.

The violence began when Mellie McDaniel, wife of the Jackson County Sheriff, arrived home, State Attorney Steve Meadows said.

After pulling into her driveway, the two suspects shot and killed the sheriff's wife, authorities said. A deputy responding to McDaniel's call was shot and killed moments later.

Deputies and other officers - including the sheriff, John McDaniel - arrived and killed the two suspects in an exchange of gunfire, Meadows said. The names of the deputy and the two suspects were not released.

More than 100 law officers searched the area surrounding the McDaniels' home late into the night Tuesday, but Meadows said authorities did not believe there were additional suspects. He said the search was being conducted out of an abundance of caution.

"The community should not be concerned. We believe this was not a random case," Meadows said. He would not discuss a potential motive for the shooting.

This was not the first time the sheriff has experienced personal, violent tragedy. His father was gunned down while working at a gas station in 1980. Serial killer Henry Lee Lucas later confessed to the slaying.

Marianna is in the Florida Panhandle, northwest of Tallahassee.

[UpAllNight]

--That goes without saying. The bad guys killed the wife but continued to stay at the house until the deputy arrived. Seems they were looking for something and weren't going to leave until they found it. Drugs?--

She called her husband who sent the deputies before she was attacked. She saw them following her. I don't think it was that long. Also, they found ropes, bleach, etc. in the killers' car. Maybe they were planning to wait inside till the sheriff came home.

[Wolfie]

Mu guess would be that the sherif found a clever way to off his wife...

Hate to say it, but that was my first thought too.

[Junior]

You sure have an evil mind.

Chalk it up to all those crime shows I've watched over the years.

[NorthFlaRebel]

The person I got that info from essentially gave an account of the phone conversation between the Sheriff and his wife. I'm not sure how much is totally accurate since they most likely wont release this to the media, so I was hesitant to post it. Also, after hearing more, the comment about "deaths being avoidable" probably wasn't accurate.

According to the story, she called him when she pulled into their driveway and a car pulled in behind her(I originally had heard she called before she reached home and was told not go go home, but that was incorrect). He supposedly told her not to get out of the car and to wait on the deputies, but she did anyway in an attempt to make into the house. She was shot in the driveway while on the phone(nextel wakie-talkie) with him. First officer on the scene shows up, doesn't see the suspects as they were hiding and they ambushed him and shot him from behind while he was checking on her.

I didn't want to post it before everything else was confirmed because it could have been construed that I was blaming the wife for not doing what she was advised to do, which I am certainly not(and I am glad I did not post the incorrect information about when she first called her husband to say she was being followed). The men were obviously intent on killing her and whoever else they could, so It probably didn't matter what she did. Its so sad to hear that the entire event, from her calling her husband to tell him she had been followed till the time the perps were killed, went down in only seven minutes time. Seven minutes.

I'm not sure which articles you may have read, but it seems like Mr. Sands believed that charges would end up being filed against him once his suit was dismissed. This seems partly because he was not the only person who was entitled to his wife's death benefits - but the other family members had never been told they were entitled until recently when the insurance company filed some motion to make the family determine how much each was supposed to get. Gale Sands' family is apparently now convinced Mr. Sands and Mr. Brown were responsible for her death given a)they didn't tell them they were entitled to part of the insurance money and now b)that he did this. Mr. Sands also has at least a minor history of being mentally unstable and resorting to violence to get his way.

It's still possible that some of these details are not accurate, but I suspect they are pretty close if not. An acquaintance of mine has a close relative who works in law enforcement in the area and some of this was third-hand accounts based upon what other officers and their families have said.

[babygene]

"Totally untrue and sick"

How do you know that?

[Quilla]

Thank you again for taking the time to type all that out. Most of your information coincides with what I have read in the Dothan Eagle - http://www.dothaneagle.com, yet a more thorough story appears is an on-line paper (with the occasional grammatical and spelling error) here:

http://www.rickystokesnews.com/news/news.php?newsid=2699

One part of this sad affair that is puzzling me is the discovery of bleach and vinegar in the gun men's vehicle. I can't even fathom a use for these liquids in the commission of a crime. From the above link:

"Following the shootout, Investigators found the two gunman with latex gloves on. In their car was vinegar and bleach. They had plastic ties like law enforcement uses as handcuffs. They also found duct tape in the car. Both Sands and Brown were armed with a .38 and .22 handguns and ammunition."

"Sands was dressed with a wig, fake mustache and makeup. Brown had a suit on and sunglasses. Meadows said they had worked to disguise both their identity and that of their vehicle."

[UpAllNight]

--How do you know that?--

Because the guy involved in the killing was under investigation for insurance fraud related to his own wife's death.

[UpAllNight]

--One part of this sad affair that is puzzling me is the discovery of bleach and vinegar in the gun men's vehicle. I can't even fathom a use for these liquids in the commission of a crime. From the above link:--


Cleanup the crime scene. DNA!

[babygene]

"Because the guy involved in the killing was under investigation for insurance fraud related to his own wife's death."

So what motive would he have for killing the sheriff's wife, if not for money? (paid by the sheriff)

[fish hawk]

Yes, she was fooling around with the Mayor of San Francisco and the sheriff had her done in.

[4Godsoloved..Hegave]

Thanks for the update.
Was wondering how fast this all went down.
I was once followed by someone and it took awhile to figure it out, but by the grace of God I realized I had to lead the perp to somewhere he could get caught.
I pulled into a hospital I was familiar with and knew had a "fishbowl" where the security guards were present 24/7. The perp followed me right up to the fishbowl. I was able to honk and within seconds they had my story and the police were enroute. They found the perp trying to get away, 2 blocks from the hospital. He was as drunk as could be.
I testified in court and he was put away for a bit.
Could have been much worse outcome.

[latina4dubya]

i don't know the sheriff at all, but that was my first thought... i do watch a lot of American Justice on A&E, so my judgment could be clouded by that...

[2ndClassCitizen]

State provided education, they should have taken their teachers advice and studied.
They were probably advised by many people during their short misspent youth to study hard.
If they had no hope it was their own fault, my premise is they thought that drugs and violence were a cool easy way to get what they wanted.
The reason most people are poor is that crime does not pay.

My guess is that they may be young enough for the Brady bunch to call them children and that will be two more children killed by gun violence.

[2ndClassCitizen]

Cops are known to have guns. Could have been guns.

[UpAllNight]

--So what motive would he have for killing the sheriff's wife, if not for money? (paid by the sheriff)--

One of the suspects most likely killed his wife. The state had closed the investigation but this Sheriff was keeping it open.

[2111USMC]

Just a guess, but I would think that rope, duct tape, and plasti-cuffs would indicate they were planning an abduction.

Kidnapping for ransom gone bad?

[Joe Boucher]

Comes down to parenting. Bad parents or absent parents.
Also the culture of gangsta crap.

[2ndClassCitizen]

Could be bad parenting. There are a lot of kids who reject their parenting and turn out good and there are a lot who reject good parenting and turn out bad.

I think people make decisions and they are aware that the decisions are either good or bad. Basically they think that "crime doesn't pay" does not apply to them.

[demkicker]

I would expect to find that type of attitude at DU, not here.

Quit with your knee jerk tacky DU comparison. I had the same exact thought as babygene. Maybe it's from seeing too many true crime shows on Court TV, but more times than not the spouse is responsible for the murder and it has nothing to do with DU.

[NorthFlaRebel]

Here is more that is coming out. Sands has been married twice, his first wife is remarried but had taken out a restraining order against him many years ago.

"She warned me that he was a very, very smooth manipulative character. He was very good at telling people what they wanted to hear," Susan Schenk's current husband, anesthesiologist John Schenk, told The Associated Press Thursday from the couple's home in Portland, Ore.

"My only fear was that if he ever came back, that we'd have enough warning to have the guns ready," Schenk added.

There's more at the link. The guy was apparently a very slick character.

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