Husband Killed Wife Then Himself, Police Say

PORT HUENEME — A 70-year-old man found dead in his home fatally shot his wife in the head multiple times before turning the gun on himself, authorities said Thursday.

The couple, identified as James and Carol Moynahan, 68, were found at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday after neighbors told police they had not seen the two in several days. The Moynahans were found in different rooms of their home, police said.

From the dates of newspapers piled on the couple’s doorstep, police estimate that the shootings occurred Jan. 24. The Moynahans had been dead about a week and three starving cats roamed the house, Police Sgt. Ken Dobbe said.

The investigation is continuing.

Police are unsure why Moynahan may have shot his wife.

“There was a lot of anger in what he did,” Dobbe said. “We have no motive. There were no indicators at the scene, no note. There’s a lot to do in this investigation.”

Police plan to research the couple’s health history, examine financial records and interview family members, Dobbe said.

The Moynahans had divorced once, then remarried, he said.

Before they moved into their home in the 800 block of Joyce Drive in late October, they had worked and lived at a small county campground north of Ventura, Dobbe said.

A neighbor who did not want to be identified said she did not know the couple well. Still, their violent deaths have stunned the quiet neighborhood, she said.

“It’s just a horrible thing to have happen,” she said. “We’re trying to stay calm until we know exactly what happened.”

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This is the sixth in a series of domestic violence cases in the county in less than three months.

The most dramatic case occurred in late November when three young boys were found fatally shot in their Santa Rosa Valley home. Their mother had been critically wounded. The mother, Socorro “Cora” Caro, 42, has since been arrested on suspicion of killing the boys.

In another case, William Walsh, 81, and his daughter, Kerry Carrassi, 52, were found dead in the living room of their Ventura subsidized housing complex in late December in what police called a murder-suicide. It appeared Walsh killed Carrassi before turning the gun on himself, police said.

Earl Lindquist Jr., 67, of Thousand Oaks was arrested last month on suspicion of fatally shooting his ailing wife, Janet, 60. Police said he admitted to the shooting, but was later released pending further investigation.

In Oxnard, Jose Valeriano allegedly shot his estranged wife last month as she walked home after dropping off the couple’s youngest son at school. He then fatally shot himself, police said.

Narinder Virk, 39, of Port Hueneme was arrested in January on suspicion of attempted murder after she allegedly tried to drown herself and her two children by holding them underwater in Channel Islands Harbor, authorities said. A nearby resident pulled them from a channel after he heard the woman’s son yelling for help.