The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON - A Dayton man was taken into custody early Monday morning on suspicion of fatally shooting his wife at the couple's 3rd St. home on Sunday night, according to the Columbia County Sheriff's office.

Joseph Vernon Shuba, 58, who had moved to Dayton from Northern California several years ago, was booked into Columbia County jail on suspision of second-degree murder after deputies found the body of his wife, Suzanne Shuba, 59, in the home's kitchen.

According to law enforcement officials and neighbors, the shooting took place at around 9 p.m. A .22-caliber pistol was discovered by deputies near the scene.

Shuba's bond hearing was scheduled to take place at 2:30 pm Monday at the Columbia County Courthouse. A crime-scene team from the Washington State Patrol was called to the Shuba residence, where the victim's body remained Monday morning.

The fatal shooting was only the sixth homicide in Columbia County in the past five decades. The last homicide took place on June 12, 2002, according to the Sheriff's office.

More details to come in Wednesday's print edition of the Times.