Note left with neighbor led officers to murder-suicide at Fort Worth home, police say
They left a note on their neighbor’s vehicle last Friday morning.
It said they were going to kill themselves and it left instructions on where to find a key.
Within minutes, shortly after 8:30 a.m. on Friday, police responded to a call at the couple’s home in the 5300 block of Lily Drive in northeast Fort Worth.
When they entered the home, officers found a 55-year-old woman on the living room couch with a gunshot wound in her chest. A man who police say was her 58-year-old husband had suffered a gunshot wound to the head.
On Thursday, officials with the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office identified the couple as Douglas and Kathryn Kirk.
Kathryn Kirk died at the scene from the gunshot wounds and her death was a homicide, according to a ruling by the medical examiner’s office.
Douglas Kirk’s gunshot wounds appeared to have been self-inflicted, according to a police report obtained by the Star-Telegram on Thursday. The medical examiner ruled his death a suicide.
Police did not release a motive for the murder-suicide.
On Thursday, shocked neighbors could not believe their “quiet neighbors” could have died in such a way.
“We feel terrible for them,” said Maged Gerges, the couple’s nextdoor neighbor. “I rarely saw her, maybe when she went to the mailbox or when she took out the garbage. I saw him more, walking around the neighborhood.”
The Kirks had lived on Lily Drive near the Keller city limits for at least five years, neighbors said, and rented the home.
Fred Moston, who lives across the street from the couple, said Douglas Kirk knocked on his door one Sunday about two weeks ago asking for help because his wife was sick.
Moston said Kirk told him his wife had leukemia.
“I went over, walked into the house and there were boxes everywhere. It was as if they had never unpacked,” Moston said. He said he also noticed a strong scent of cat urine.
Moston found Kathryn Kirk unconscious in the home. He helped her to a vehicle and he said he believes her husband took her to a hospital.
Police had not told residents what happened to the couple as of Thursday.
“I saw them take two bodies out but no one told us anything about what had happened,” Moston said.
Moston said he called police the day after the shootings when he noticed people and vehicles at the couple’s home.
“It had not even been 24 hours and here was someone who I didn’t know loading up a vehicle out of their garage and taking tools out of the garage,” Moston said. “I walked up to one of the guys and asked what was going in and he only smiled.”
This story was originally published January 24, 2019 at 12:09 PM with the headline "Note left with neighbor led officers to murder-suicide at Fort Worth home, police say."
