Cops: Huntley deaths a murder-suicide

A 39-year-old man fatally shot his former fiancée in the back and head inside her Huntley home Tuesday night before turning his weapon on himself in what police Thursday called a murder-suicide.

The shootings of Jennifer L. Beaudion, 33, of 11021 Janice, and David J. Griner appear to be the culmination of months of domestic problems that had been intensifying since the couple called off plans to marry in August, police said.

"The relationship was going downward," Huntley Police Chief John Perkins said at a news conference Thursday morning. "She was looking to no longer have a relationship with him and he wanted to continue the relationship."

Police found the bodies about 1:15 p.m. Wednesday when called to Beaudion's home by her sister-in-law, who had become concerned because she could not be reached by phone. Both were found in an upstairs bedroom dead from gunshot wounds.

An autopsy conducted Thursday showed Beaudion suffered two gunshots to the head and two to her back. She may have been trying to run away from Griner when shot, Perkins said.

Griner died from what Perkins called a clearly self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Neighbors in the Huntley Cove subdivision said Beaudion and Griner were quiet and kept to themselves. Former Huntley fire chief David Veath called Beaudion a "very nice lady" and said she often walked her two dogs around the neighborhood.

"She was my neighbor, so we would talk," said Veath, who lives next door. "I took care of the driveway when it snowed. They were a quiet couple. We'd all spend a lot of time outside in the summer and we talked."

Scott Darby, who has lived across the street for about nine months, said he did not know the couple but said they were friendly when they saw each other outside of their homes.

"We never spoke to them other than hi and bye, that's about it," Darby said. "They were quiet and we never had problems with them."

Griner and Beaudion had been dating on and off for about four years before the end of their engagement. Despite the breakup, police said, they continued to see each other frequently, perhaps because they shared several pets.

Since September, Perkins said, Huntley officers had been called eight times to respond to domestic incidents involving the couple, ranging from shouting matches to allegations of vandalism to Beaudion's vehicle and reports Griner had threatened violence.

There were never allegations of physical violence, police said, but as recently as Feb. 16 Beaudion reported Griner had threatened to harm her and her family.

"The calls did seem to ratchet up," Perkins said. "He seemed a little more threatening at that time (Feb. 16), but she never followed through to get an order of protection."

Beaudion did obtain a temporary, two-week order of protection against Griner in November, claiming he was "not right in the head" and she feared for her safety. She let the order expire Dec. 9 without seeking a two-year extension.

In her affidavit seeking the protective order, Beaudion said her car began acting strangely in mid-November, soon after Griner discovered she was seeing another man. A mechanic later told her someone had poured water and sugar in its gas tank, the affidavit states.

Griner, Beaudion wrote in an affidavit, also called her boss and sent insensitive text messages to her co-workers after he discovered the other relationship.

"I have called the police before because we got in a fight and I was scared," Beaudion wrote. "He has a bad history and says scary things. He is not right in the head. I am scared for me, my family and friends."

Police discovered no significant evidence in Griner's car, found parked about five blocks from Beaudion's home, or at a friend's home where he had been living since late November.

But there were indications - such as selling off belongings well below their value and sending unusual communications to family members - that Griner had been contemplating suicide, Perkins said.

Griner did not have a Firearm Owners Identification Card that would have allowed him to legally possess the .380-caliber handgun used in the shooting, and investigators are trying to determine where he got it.

McHenry County Coroner Marlene Lantz said the shooting took place sometime Tuesday evening. There were no other signs of struggle and no evidence of forced entry into the home, police said.

Court documents show Beaudion and Griner were living together at the Janice address when she sought the order of protection against him in November. Griner, police said, was living with a friend on Shenandoah Lane in Huntley as of the shooting.

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