Jury: Campton Hills woman killed husband

A Kane County coroner's jury was unable to determine whether a Campton Hills woman who shot and killed her husband was responsible for her own death as well.

John and Pamela D'Amico both died of gunshots to the chest Sept. 23, 2007, in a domestic dispute at their home on Brown Farm Court. At an inquest Wednesday, the coroner's jury ruled John D'Amico's death a homicide caused by Pamela D'Amico and his wife's death undetermined.

The ruling came after Kane County Coroner Charles West read into the court record a doctor's report indicating that Pamela D'Amico was shot at close range, but not close enough to be consistent with a typical suicide. A lack of witness evidence also prevented authorities from establishing which rounds were fired first.

"What actually took place before the police arriving at the scene, other than a verbal argument out in the street, really is anybody's guess," Kane County Sheriff's Sgt. Thomas Friedrich testified.

Friedrich said police responded to reports of shots fired at the family residence at 3:35 p.m. and found Pamela D'Amico, 32, dead on the kitchen floor with a .357 revolver at her side. Outside, John D'Amico, 33, was found sprawled in a flower bed with a trail of blood leading into the house. Both had been shot more than once, he said.

Also at the scene was the couple's then 6-year-old daughter, who might have witnessed the incident but has yet to talk about it.

In an upstairs bedroom closet, investigators found four empty bullet casings, a bloody towel and other evidence of a struggle. Police said six more rounds had been fired but those casings were still in the gun when officers arrived. Fingerprint, DNA and gunshot residue evidence each indicated Pamela D'Amico had fired the weapon, authorities said.

According to John D'Amico's brother Dan, marital problems had strained the couple's relationship in recent years. In a previous incident, Pamela D'Amico, who had been diagnosed with depression, was accused of firing a gun through a sliding-glass door at the couple's home.

"We know intuitively what happened here," Dan D'Amico said. "There was violence in the relationship, and the violence was always her to him, and never the other way around."

An attorney for the estate of Pamela D'Amico, however, said there is no reason to believe D'Amico shot her husband with any motive other than self-defense.

"All we know is John and Pamela are no longer with us," Abigail Ortman said. "It's a terrible tragedy."