Bob Agnew
(Photo courtesy of Troy Elmore)
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Apparent murder-suicide baffles loved ones

Police say man shot his ex-boyfriend and then killed himself

By Kristina Davis12:02 a.m.Feb. 9, 2010 - San Diego Union Tribune

SAN DIEGO — Friends and family members of two men who died in an apparent murder-suicide last week continued to search for answers as to how the couple's on-again, off-again relationship could have ended so tragically.

Police said Bob Agnew, 41, shot and killed ex-boyfriend Eric Schulthise, 40, before turning the gun on himself.

The men's bodies were found in Schulthise's City Heights condominium on Wilson Avenue on Friday afternoon after a concerned co-worker asked police to do a welfare check, San Diego police said.

Schulthise was a senior aquarist at SeaWorld and had worked in marine biology in Mississippi and Hawaii.

"We're just very saddened by this tragedy," said SeaWorld spokesman David Koontz. "He was very highly regarded by his colleagues, and he will be greatly missed here."

Schulthise reportedly told a neighbor that he was being stalked by someone he used to date.

"I think everybody is still in shock," said friend Charles Brooks, who described Schulthise as a happy-go-lucky guy.

Schulthise's father, Larry, said from Virginia yesterday that his son kept his relationships private and never spoke of Agnew.

Dan Doyle, who sang with Agnew in the San Diego Men's Chorus and knew Schulthise from work, called the deaths "bizarre."

"It's so contrary to everything (Agnew) stood for," Doyle said. "He was very gregarious and funny and flirtatious," Doyle said.

He described Agnew, a graduate student at San Diego State University and a retired member of the Navy, as a talented baritone who had recently been upset about the ending romance.

Adam Strom, who lives in an adjacent unit, said he heard gunshots early Thursday morning and called 911 but was not aware of police responding. He said he called police again Friday to report that he was concerned about his neighbor.

Assistant Police Chief Boyd Long said yesterday, after reviewing 911 calls and dispatch records related to the case, that officers responded "appropriately" to the information they had at the time. He said he could not find a record of the second call Strom made to police about his concern for Schulthise.

According to the records, the Police Department received two 911 calls about 5:30 a.m. from people in the complex reporting hearing gunshots in the area. Neither caller indicated the sound of shots had come from inside the complex.

Six officers, including a sergeant, arrived in the area five minutes later.

An officer responding to the alley contacted someone who was going into a house and learned that the person was not involved.

Another officer was flagged down by a citizen, who also heard the noises but thought it was probably someone hammering.

The officers cleared the scene at 5:47 a.m.

"We didn't have any information to lead us to believe that the gunshots came from inside the complex," Long said.

The next day, police got a call from the concerned co-worker about 3:40 p.m.

The blinds were drawn in the condo's main window, but the officer was able to look through a smaller window and see the two bodies lying in the living room.

He kicked in the door and found the men dead.