3 Killed, 3 Wounded by Gunfire at Funeral; Ex-Husband Charged

A man apparently angry over a land dispute with his former in-laws opened fire on an Easter funeral gathering, killing three people and wounding his ex-wife and two others, authorities said.

The shooting took place in the parking lot of the Mountain Home Baptist Church, as the family and friends gathered for a funeral service for Effie Collins Justice, 79. The service had been scheduled to begin at 3 p.m., officials said, and the shooting took place shortly before that.

Michael Leslie Rainey, 41, was arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, according to a statement from the Henderson County Sheriff’s Department.

Sheriff’s Capt. Tom Hatchett said the dead were the parents of Rainey’s ex-wife and a young man whose relationship to the family was not immediately determined.

Wilford Owensby, 61, of Fletcher; his wife, Ponnelle, 60, and Scott Bowles, 24, were pronounced dead at the scene, the Sheriff’s Department said. Ponnelle Owensby was Justice’s daughter.

The suspect’s former wife, Andrea Rainey, 40, of Kennesaw, Ga., was taken to Margaret Pardee Hospital in Hendersonville, where she was in good condition.

Andrea Rainey’s sister, Sheila Johnston, 30, of Fletcher, and her daughter, Wendy Johnston, 11, were both in critical but stable condition in Memorial Mission Hospital in Asheville.

Rainey apparently confronted his former wife and her relatives in the parking lot, Hatchett said.

“There seems to be some sort of domestic thing, a conflict over some land,” he said. Rainey owned land near the church, which is adjacent to property belonging to Andrea Rainey’s family, he said.

Hatchett said that Rainey fled on foot after dropping the weapons. He was arrested without incident a short distance away. A handgun and a shotgun were found in the parking lot, Hatchett said.