Shannon L. Shockey
TRAGIC SHOOTING LEAVES TWO DEAD
QUINCY — Pennsylvania State Police are investigating a possible murder-suicide after two bodies were found Monday morning in a two-story apartment house on Mentzer Gap Road.
Jay Wilbur Stouffer, Jr., 30, and Shannon L. Shockey, 20, of 8319 Mentzer Gap Road were found dead at 11:15 a.m.
Although Stouffer is listed on the police report as having the same address as Shockey, Tom Miller, Shockey’s uncle and a co-worker of the pair, said Stouffer lived near a fruit stand in Ringgold, near the Smithsburg area.
Shannon Shockey was the daughter of Michael Shockey of Waynesboro and Kathy Snyder of Florida.
Police have released little information, but Shockey’s neighbors and relatives say she and Stouffer were found dead on the first floor of the red brick building owned by Paul Gunder.
Police are terming the case a criminal homicide.
Autopsies have been ordered on both victims and police are continuing their investigation into the cause of the deaths and circumstances surrounding the deaths, police said in a sketchy press release.
More information will be released pending the outcome of the autopsies, they said.
FOUND BY FIANCE
Miller said the bodies of Shockey and Stouffer were found by Shockey’s fiance, Bernard “Bernie” McAfee of Sabillasville.
Miller said the two victims worked at Buchanan Auto Park, a dealership on Route 16, with McAfee and himself.
Shockey, the granddaughter of the company’s owner, Dean Hebb, worked as a secretary in the service and parts department. She also was an evening dispatcher/operator.
Stouffer was a detail manager in the clean-up department. McAfee is the building maintenance crew leader and Miller is the parts manager at the company.
According to Miller, things “went sour” on Saturday, the day Shockey announced she and McAfee were getting back together.
Shockey and McAfee had been engaged for a year or more, but over the holidays, they broke up for a short time, according to Miller.
“During the week of Christmas, she and Bernie went to Florida to see her mom,” Miller said, adding it was obvious the couple was patching things up.
But when Shockey told Stouffer the couple were back together, Stouffer became angry, Miller said.
“Numerous people witnessed it ” he said.
Although some people have described Stouffer as an ex-boyfriend. Miller said that’s not the case. Instead, he said, Stouffer was a possessive man who tried very hard to enter Shockey’s life and become her boyfriend.
With his eyes set on the young woman, he often brought an uncomfortable environment to the workplace, Miller said.
“Things became rough when Stouffer entered the picture,” Miller said. “She had day-to-day pressure as he tried to get next to her. They were not living together, but Jay worked his way into the picture by giving her rides home when her vehicle broke down.”
SHE FAILED TO SHOW ……….
On Monday, when Shockey failed to show up at work, McAfee became concerned. “She was due in at 10 (a.m.) and she’s never late.” Miller said, “When she didn’t show, Bernie knew something was wrong.”
McAfee called but got no answer.
He than drove out to Shockey’s Mentzer Gap home, a brick structure on the north side of the road about a quarter of a mile from Tomstown Road.
When he arrived, he found a car and a pickup parked outside.
McAfee walked into the house, according to Miller and found Shockey in a pool of blood in the bathroom and Stouffer in the doorway of the bathroom.
“He said he couldn’t tell where or how they’d been shot.” Miller said, adding McAfee said he called 911 and then Hebb, the women’s grandfather.
NEIGHBORS SCANNERS
Shortly after police were called, residents of Mentzer Gap who had heard the call on their police scanners were told to go back inside their homes.
“I went out to see what was happening and saw cops running around the house,” said one neighbor.
“They told me to get back in. They didn’t know if the suspect was running loose or not.
After police arrived they were seen talking to a woman and her child who lived on the second floor of the apartment building.
Later the woman was seen packing her suitcase and leaving.
The neighbor said she didn’t hear any gunshots Monday, but when she went out with her child to catch the school bus around 8 a.m., she noticed two vehicles at Shockey’s house.
The neighbor described Shockey as a very pretty girl who was skinny and had long dark hair.
Shockey’s aunt, Brenda Miller, said “the young woman had only recently received her GED and had big dreams.”
Although Stoufer was not considered a boyfriend, according to family members he reportedly told Tom Miller that he was a “Christian who wanted to be a positive influence” on Shockey’s life.
The Record Herald Newspaper – Waynesboro, Franklin Co., Pennsylvania – Tuesday, January 13,1998
DEATHS RULED MURDER-SUICIDE BY INVESTIGATORS
QUINCY — Pennsylvania State Police confirmed Tuesday that the two people found dead Monday morning in a Mentzer Gap Road apartment died in a murder-suicide.
Police said they reached that conclusion after reviewing-autopsy results and other information. Police said Jay Wilbur Stouffer, Jr., 30, of 23506 Ringgold Pike, Smithsburg, shot Shannon L. Shockey, 20, of 8319 Mentzer Gap Road twice and then took his own life.
According to court records Stouffer had previously served time in a Virginia prison on malicious wounding charges. No specifics were available on that case.
While serving time, Stouffer was a key prosecution witness in a 1989 murder case involving Richard M. Simmons of Grecncastle, who was charged with the shooting death of his girlfriend, Shawn Ann Reitz, 21.
The shooting occurred Jan 12, 1989, but Simmons was not arrested on the malicious wounding charge until Sept. 1, 1993.
Stouffer testified in Franklin County Court that he heard gunshots coming from the Reitz home after Simmons went inside. He said Simmons then ran out of the house screaming “She’s dead!”
Stouffer told police that Simmons admitted killing Reitz and threatened that he, too would be killed if he told anyone.
On June 28, 1995, Simmons was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in
prison after pleading no contest to a third-degree murder charge, according to court records.
As for Monday’s shooting, police said it was a “domestic related incident which resulted in the death of both persons.”
The bodies of Stouffer and Shockey were found in the young woman’s home around 11:15 a.m. by Bernard “Bernie” McAfee, the woman’s fiance.
All three Shockey, Stouffer and McAfee worked at Buchanan Auto Park, owned by Shockey’s grandfather, Dean Hebb.
Shockey was the daughter of Mike L. Shockey of Waynesboro and Kathey (Harner) Snyder of Kissimmee, Fla.
Stouffer was the son of Jay W. Stouffer, Sr., of Leitersburg and Bonnie Jo Henry Weise of San Diego. Calif.
Shockey’s neighbors say she had a relationship with Stouffer and that he had been her boyfriend for a short time after she broke up with McAfee.
But Tom Miller, Shockey’s uncle, has said Stouffer was not involved in a relationship with his niece.
Stouffer liked her and often pressured her to become a part of his life, according to Miller.
Shockey was a secretary and Stouffer was a detail manager in the clean-up department at Buchanan Auto Park.
Miller said things “went sour” when Shockey announced Saturday that she would be getting back together with McAfee following a brief break-up they had during the holidays.
Stouffer became angry when he heard the news, Miller said.
And when Shockey didn’t show up for work Monday morning, McAfee became concerned and went to her home.
There he found her on the bathroom floor and Stouffer in the doorway to the bathroom, according to Miller.
McAfee called 911, as well as Hebb, after finding the bodies, police said.
The Record Herald Newspaper – Waynesboro, Franklin Co., Pennsylvania – Wednesday, January 14, 1998
SHANNON L. SHOCKEY, 20, oF 8319 Mentzer Gap Road, Waynesboro, was pronounced dead in her home at 12:13 p.m. Monday, Jan 12, 1998.
Born May 16, 1977, in Waynesboro she was the daughter of Kathey (Harner) Snyder of Kissimmee, Fla., and Mike L. Shockey of Waynesboro. She was a lifelong resident of the Waynesboro area and had lived at her present residence for one year.
Miss Shockey attended school in the Waynesboro Area School District.
For the past two years, she was employed by her grandfather as a secretary at Bucnanan Auto Park, Waynesboro.
In addition to her mother and father, Miss Shockey is survived by her maternal grandparents, Robert E. Harner of Georgia and Wendy S. (Kreps) Harner of Waynesboro, paternal grandparents, Dean M. and Dorothy J. (Shockey) Hebb of Waynesboro; five half-sisters, Carrie Harner and Jessica Munn, both of Florida, and Nicole R. Shockey, Allison L. Shockey and Hannah E. Shockey, all of Waynesboro: two half-brothers, Joey Munn and Michael J. Shockey, both of Waynesboro, a step-sister, Jennifer L. Snyder of Waynesboro, a step-brother, Anthony M. Snyder, Kissimmee, Fla. and a number of aunts cousins.
Services will be held at 2:30 p.m. Friday in Grove Funeral Home, Waynesboro, with Pastor Robert Fitz officiating. Burial will be in Green Hill Cemetery, Waynesboro.
The family will receive friends one hour prior to services Friday in the funeral home.
The Record Herald Newspaper – Waynesboro, Franklin Co., Pennsylvania – Wednesday, January 14, 1998
