Montana

More details emerge in Libby murder-suicide

Posted: Jan 4, 2012 3:32 PM by Dax VanFossen
Updated: Jan 4, 2012 3:35 PM

LIBBY - On Tuesday morning, a Libby man with a legal history with Lincoln County law enforcement called 911 saying he killed his wife, and that he would turn the gun on himself.

"We received a phonecall at about 6:28 hours, from a male caller, at 1217 main avenue, that he had shot his wife and he was going to kill himself," said Lincoln County Sheriff Roby Bowe.

It was just a short while after that law enforcement authorities arrived on scene, but by the time they had, they looked in through some of the windows and realized that the victim and the suspect, were already deceased.

51-year-old Dale Kinnenburgh Jr., who shot and killed his 55-year-old wife Catherine Kinniburgh, had an extensive legal history with the Sheriff's department. Sheriff Robby Bowe says Kinnenburgh Jr. disliked law enforcement, which is why they waited until SWAT from Kalispell and Flathead County arrived on scene.

"Due to some of the past law enforcement contacts with him and some of his anti-social jargons that he had been putting out there, we secured the area and evacuated some of the neighbors," said Bowe.

When Kalispell Law Enforcement arrived, they used camera equipment, and determined the worst had already happened.

"We could tell what we had. There were two deceased people at that time."

Sheriff Bowe told us, it is too early to tell whether or not drugs or alcohol played any role in the murder and suicide.