Facing Assault Trial, Man Kills Wife, Himself

A man fatally shot his ex-wife and then himself Wednesday, the same day he was scheduled to go on trial for assaulting her last fall.

Jackie Wade, 41, was shot in the chest and head when she left the house early Wednesday morning to get some fuel for the wood stove, said Stew Graham, chief criminal deputy for the Yakima County sheriff’s department.

Her children, a 16-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy, heard the shots and barricaded themselves in a bathroom before calling police, Graham said.

After shooting Jackie Wade, John Wade, 42, entered the house and shot himself in the head, Graham said.

The children believed their father was still alive because they heard noises in the house, so an emergency response team went in to bring them out before discovering Wade had killed himself, Graham said.

The children, whose names were not released, were put in the custody of their paternal grandparents, who live next door.