The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON - Tipsy, deep in debt, recovering from a winter car accident and stressed out from a fight with his wife, Joseph Shuba snapped on the evening of Sunday, April 29, went into the couple's bedroom to get his .22-caliber pistol, returned to the kitchen where the couple had been preparing dinner and shot Suzanne Shuba in the head, according to police reports obtained by the Times.

"Nothing could stop me from walking into that bedroom and doing what I did," Shuba is quoted as telling Columbia County Sheriff's Deputy Don Foley on the Monday of April 30, explaining that all his stress and anxiety exploded inside his brain at once.

According to Foley's report, Shuba told him he walked up to her and stuck the pistol at her head and shot her.

"She fell down to the floor and was moaning, so I shot her again to put her out of her misery," Shuba told the deputy during an interview at the sheriff's office on the ground floor of the Columbia County Courthouse. "Last night, something that shouldn't have happened, happened. It was me, but it wasn't me."

But Shuba's court-appointed public defendant, Dayton defense attorney Dale Slack, said the case isn't nearly as clear-cut as the preliminary reports from the Columbia County Sheriff's Office investigation might indicate.

"This may be a situation where he may have been in fear (of his physical safety) based on incidents that happened in the past," said Slack, who met with the Shubas' adult children last week to learn more about the couple's relationship and what may have led up to that Sunday's events. "I'm trying to get more information from California law enforcement to get a better picture."

Shuba was formally charged with murder in the first degree last Wednesday after Prosecutor Rea Culwell obtained Foley's report with Shuba's admission, which she believes shows the crime was premeditated.

Slack said his client likely will plead "not guilty" at his first opportunity to do so, which may at this week's arraignment hearing at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday in front of Columbia County Superior Court Judge William Acey, who will read him the charges.

Personal Troubles Mounted

Foley's report and an earlier probable cause report reveal the tragic events that unfolded at the Shubas' South Third Street home that Sunday night, an evening that began quite innocently with the couple preparing dinner together.

A long history of personal troubles apparently preceded the moment at which Shuba said, in Foley's paraphrased words, "his mind went somewhere else."

Slack hinted there may have been a history of some form of abuse, at least possibly psychological abuse, on the part of Shuba's long-time wife before the couple moved to Dayton. Police reports indicate, however, that whatever tension already existed likely was exacerbated by additional problems once the couple moved here from California to take up residence in the South Third Street home that previously belonged to Suzanne Shuba's relative.

Joseph Shuba took out a loan to make the move, only to discover the house, which had been vacant for quite some time, "was a disaster" when the Shubas arrived. It needed a lot of money to be fixed up.

The Shubas, both covered by California disability medical benefits, also learned they weren't eligible for similar disability insurance in Washington State, as Shuba told Foley they had been led to believe.

"Shuba told me that all of this caused him to become frustrated," Foley wrote in his report. "Shuba added that they were going deeper and deeper into debt."

To add to his woes, a car accident in Dayton on Dec. 4, 2011, fractured his nose and injured his neck when his head hit the steering wheel, leading to more financial problems as medical bills piled up, according to the document.

For his injuries, Shuba received injections and went to physical therapy in Dayton and at St. Mary's Hospital. For his depression, anxiety and mild seizures, Shuba took the prescription drugs Carbatrol and Clonazepam.

Carbatrol is an anti-convulsion prescription with possible side effects including mood swings, depression, agitation, hostility, restlessness and hyperactivity.

One medical website urges patients to see their doctors if they "have thoughts of suicide or hurting yourself."

Clonazepam is an anti-depressant used to treat seizure or panic disorders. Its side effects include depression, disorientation, headaches and sleep disturbance.

What Unfolded Sunday Night

When Foley asked what happened Sunday night, Shuba said the couple decided to have a steak dinner because he was scheduled for surgery on his neck on Wednesday. They decided he would prepare the steak on an indoor grill and she would cook the beans and baked potatoes.

The couple liked their meat rare, but when Shuba asked her how long the potatoes would take so he could time his steaks, she had a fit and began yelling and screaming.

Normally "the nicest person," Shuba said, Suzanne would occasionally explode, according to the report.

"She was (explicit) yelling at me," Shuba told Foley. Shuba quoted his wife saying "you don't have no control over me. I don't have to do what you tell me."

Shuba told Foley the scene was so intense, he couldn't take it anymore.

Shuba had consumed a drink or perhaps two by this time. According to a report filed by Columbia County Deputy Rick Ferguson, there was "the odor of an intoxicating beverage on Joe's breath" shortly after deputies arrived at the couple's home.

Ferguson took two breath samples almost three hours after the shooting. Even then Shuba's blood alcohol level was .063 and .061 percent. The legal limit for driving in most states is .08, but more important is how the alcohol may have reacted with Shuba's prescription drugs, though it's not clear to how much of his prescription drugs were in his system.

One medical website warns that carbamazepines or anticonvulsant drugs like Carbatrol "may impair your thinking or reactions. Avoid drinking alcohol. It can increase some of the side effects of carbamazepine and can also increase your risk of seizures." The site gives the same warning for mixing alcohol with Clonazepam.

"Shuba told me that his mind went somewhere else and when he went into the bedroom he did not have any control over his mind," Foley recalled in the report.

That's when the diminutive 5-foot, 140-pound man with a long, gray beard reached for his classic-style, single-action revolver, which his wife of 34 years had given him a decade earlier as a Christmas present, and returned to the kitchen.

"I stuck the gun up by her head," Shuba told Foley, who wrote it all happened fast according to the 59-year-old murder suspect. "Bang, bang, like that. One little moan and I shot her again."

After he allegedly pulled the trigger of the Heritage Rough Rider pistol, Shuba "really didn't have any feelings, but now I do," he told Foley on Monday. "Only thing I thought of was make a quick call to the kids. They couldn't believe it when I said what I did."

'I Ruined Everything'

According to Foley's report, Shuba told him police grew up in a bad neighborhood, but never picked fights. He told Foley he would only ever fight in self defense as a kid. Shuba said he had taken the gun out of his safe for self protection a few weeks earlier after a chainsaw and a weed whacker had been stolen from the couple's garage. Foley had responded to Shuba's burglary call.

Earlier this week, Culwell confirmed that Shuba has not been arrested or convicted of a crime and there we no reported domestic dispute incidences at the couple's home since they moved to Dayton.

"Shuba told me he got the gun out for protection in case (burglars) came back and broke into the house," Foley wrote.

The first to discover the scene at the house was family friend Donna Fone, whom Shuba called after he spoke on the phone to his adult children to ask if she could take his dog, Anylia.

According to Ferguson's probable cause report, Fone "found Joe upset and Susan (Suzanne) in the corner. Donna said she knew Susan was dead. Donna said she noticed the gun on the table and asked Joe, 'what (did) you do?'"

In a sworn written statement, Fone said Shuba told her he was tired of his wife and put his hands in the air.

When Donna told him he couldn't have the gun, he told her he didn't need it anymore. She quoted him as saying "I knew it would come to this. I shot her."

In his interview with Foley, a teary-eyed Shuba told the deputy he regretted not being able to see his dog again anymore or make a planned trip to see his new grandchild.

"My God, it happened," he said to Foley after a pause. "I have ruined everything."

The Defense

After the shooting, Joseph Shuba took advantage of his right to be represented by an attorney. Slack, who practices family law and has also handled a number of criminal defense cases during his three and a half years in Columbia County, was appointed as his counsel. He has not defended a murder suspect before.

Based on the complexity of the case, Slack plans to ask the court for a second attorney to help represent Shuba. He also hopes to get more resources to look deeper into the couple's reportedly troubled relationship that preceded the alleged murder.

"This is murder one," he said. "This is a big deal."

Slack said he may opt for self defense as a motive, but won't decide on his defense strategy until he has the evidence to back up the notion (discovered after his discussions with the Shubas' son and daughter last week) that the late Suzanne Shuba was abusive to her husband, whom Slack described as small and frail.

As clear-cut as the police report make the alleged murder sound, Slack said he doesn't believe the case is "open-andshut."

The Shuba case has received plenty of media attention, but Slack said he wants members of the Dayton community to bear in mind that "there aren't simple, neat facts in life. There's more to it than there is in the (police) reports. He's innocent until proven guilty."

Joseph Shuba is expected to remain in Columbia County jail for the duration of the case, which will go to trial if he pleads "not guilty." If convicted, Shuba could face the death penalty.

He was scheduled to have surgery on his neck, but the procedure has been delayed indefi- nitely since his arrest last week. Slack said his doctor does not believe his jail cell would be conducive to his post-surgical recovery.

Members of the family have requested Suzanne Shuba's remains to be cremated.

They plan a memorial service in California. No obituary or remembrance events have been planned for Dayton, where the couple had friends, but no family members.

Editor's Note: In the March 10 issue of the Times, this story mis-stated who had not been arrested or convicted of a crime in Columbia County. The report from Prosecuting Attorney Rea Culwell said Joseph Shuba had not been arrested or convicted of a crime since moving to Dayton. The story has been updated.