Husband, wife killed in murder-suicide in Walton County, police say

A man was found dead Thursday morning in a home on Glen Iris Drive, shortly after a woman shot herself in a vehicle on Ford Street while officers were attempting to approach her, Monroe police said.

Credit: Channel 2 Action News

Credit: Channel 2 Action News

A man was found dead Thursday morning in a home on Glen Iris Drive, shortly after a woman shot herself in a vehicle on Ford Street while officers were attempting to approach her, Monroe police said.

Authorities are investigating an apparent murder-suicide in the city of Monroe.

A man was found dead Thursday morning in a home on Glen Iris Drive, shortly after his wife shot herself in a vehicle on Ford Street while officers were attempting to approach her, interim Police Chief R.V. Watts told AJC.com.

Police were first alerted about 3:20 a.m. after Brittany Suzanne Folkerts, 45, called her son to tell him she had shot her husband, 51-year-old Ronald Edward Folkerts.

His father, Brittany Folkerts’ ex-husband, called 911. He knew the couple lived on Glen Iris Drive, but he did not know the exact address.

Officers responding to Glen Iris did not locate the man’s body at that time, but they were given “a name and a lookout of a vehicle,” Watts said.

After learning another adult son lived nearby, officers were led to Ford Street, where they spotted Brittany Folkerts in a white Hyundai. Her 19-year-old son was standing near the driver’s-side door, talking to his mother.

“While they were approaching,” Watts said, “the subject took her own life in the vehicle.”

The woman’s son was not harmed.

“Because they didn’t know what they had, they were giving him commands to get on the ground,” he said. “When the son backed away from the vehicle, that’s when they heard the gunshot.”

Police later found Ronald Folkerts shot dead inside his home. Watts said officers have had dealings with both husband and wife in the past.

Agents with the GBI responded to process the scene. The GBI is expected to make an official determination on the cause of death.

In other news: