Couple Killed in Murder-Suicide

A Simi Valley man shot and mortally wounded his wife Saturday night before turning the gun on himself in a murder-suicide at the couple’s home, authorities said Sunday.

John Smutko, 41, shot at his wife three times inside their bedroom, striking her twice in the head, authorities said.

Virginia Smutko, 33, was alive when authorities found her, but she died 90 minutes later at a local hospital. Her husband was found dead in a hallway from a single self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, authorities said.

The weapon used was a .45-caliber handgun, police said.

A motive for the shootings was unclear, but neighbors said they could hear the couple arguing loudly in front of their house about 9:45 p.m. Saturday.

A few minutes later, shots rang out from inside the home and neighbors called police.

The homicide was the first this year in Simi Valley and the 47th in Ventura County.

Neighbors said the couple had lived in a well-maintained 1970s housing development on Love Circle for three years since moving from Woodland Hills.

Both often smiled and greeted neighbors. They were frequently seen playing pool on a billiards table in their garage.

“They always waved and said, ‘Hi.’ They were both very friendly and I never saw them arguing before,” said a neighbor who lives across the street.

John’s uncle, William Smutko, 80, said the couple had been married for more than six years. John worked as a truck driver for the city of Fillmore and Virginia worked for a financial services firm with an office in Oxnard, he said. They had no children.

“I don’t know what happened. It sounds like it could have been an accident,” said William Smutko, who lives in Torrance with John’s father.

The couple spent Thanksgiving with family members in Van Nuys, where John grew up, his uncle said.