Sign in | Register View Today's Print Edition · Reader Rewards · Buy Photos · Place an Ad · Subscription Rates · Forms · Contact Us · About Us
The Sentinel-Record Buildings Header Art
Browse Categories  (Add your business to the Hot Springs Business Directory)
159

Friend: Slain woman, accused husband had split


FAYETTEVILLE, Tenn. – A southern Tennessee woman and her husband, who is accused of killing her and five other people in two states, had been having marital troubles and were not living together, a man who says he knew the couple told The Associated Press on Sunday.

Jacob Shaffer, 30, faces six counts of homicide. His wife, 38-year-old Traci Shaffer, her son, Devin Brooks, and neighbor, Robert Berber, both 16, were found dead Saturday in her home in rural Fayetteville, said Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Kristin Helm. The bodies of Traci Shaffer’s brother, Chris Hall, 34, and father Billy Hall, 57, were found in a home across the road. Jacob Shaffer is also accused in a killing at a business in Huntsville, Ala., about 30 miles south.

The Shaffers were no longer sharing a home but had not filed for separation, said 29-year-old James Wilson, who was gathering belongings from Traci’s home in Lincoln County. He said he is the boyfriend of Shaffer’s sister, Jennifer.

The Shaffers had a 4-year-old daughter, and Wilson said police told him the girl was home during the killings but wasn’t hurt. Wilson told the AP that he met Jacob Shaffer when they were installing drywall, but they had stopped being friends about a year and a half ago.

Shaffer was still installing drywall around Huntsville, and Billy Hall had been driving him back and forth to work before the couple split, Wilson said. The sixth victim was found at Hall Cultured Marble Granite, which Hall’s family owns, Wilson said. The business was closed Sunday.

“Her dad done everything he could for Jacob,” Wilson said. “I have no idea why he walked across the street to her daddy and her brother. Her daddy never done anything wrong.”

Helm said Shaffer’s motive was domestic, but authorities have not released a chronology of the killings or many details, including how the six died.

Wilson said the couple had “gotten into it” as far as fighting, but he never would have expected such violence.





Local News Archive Calendar
Sponsor Advertisements
Featured Business
Featured Business
 
 
Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | Place an Ad | Resources

Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional

visitors since March 13th, 2009

2009 (c) Copyright The Sentinel-Record

Web design by: Joe Regan
Owner of: WebProJoe.com Web Design Company