GRANTSVILLE — This year's deadly trend of domestic-related slayings continued Sunday when a Grantsville man entered a local drive-in restaurant, shot and killed his wife, wounded a clerk, then killed the owner before turning the gun on himself.
Sunday night's slayings brought the total of intimate-partner homicides to 13 since January, according to statistics compiled by the Utah Domestic Violence Advisory Council. That's higher than the past two years' totals of seven and 10 intimate-partner homicides, said Judy Kasten Bell, advisory council administrator.
The council defines an intimate partner as a spouse, ex-spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend or live-in partner.
Including Sunday's killings, five of the perpetrators in the 13 deaths this year have also killed themselves, Kasten Bell said.
Sunday's slaying-suicide began with a domestic dispute at the couple's home, just one house east of Jimbo's Drive Inn, 533 E. Main, Grantsville Police Chief Danny Johnson said.
As the dispute escalated, Marilyn Schutz, 42, ran to the restaurant about 7:55 p.m. to call police or ask for help, Johnson said.
Her husband, Thomas Schutz, 57, followed her into the restaurant and shot her once in the upper torso with a .38-caliber pistol, Johnson said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Schutz then turned the gun on the store's cashier, Joyce Fawson, 50, as she tried to call police, Johnson said. Fawson was listed in good condition Monday morning at Tooele Valley Regional Medical Center.
After shooting Fawson, Schutz went through the kitchen and into a back storage room where he shot the owner, Jimmy Maddox, 72, twice in the upper torso as Maddox apparently tried to flee out the back door, Johnson said. Maddox was taken by ambulance to Tooele Valley Regional Medical Center, where he died.
After shooting Maddox, Schutz returned to the front of the store and shot himself in the head near where his wife's body lay.
There were no customers in the store at the time of the shooting, Johnson said. The popular local eatery remained closed Monday morning as police continued their investigation into the incident.
Sunday's slayings were the first since a double murder in 1986 in this town of about 6,500 people located about 10 miles west of Tooele.
"Knowing the residents of Grantsville, they're going to be shocked," Johnson said. "This kind of thing just doesn't happen here."
The Schutzes had been living in their Grantsville home for about five years, Johnson said. Police had been called out on previous domestic disputes, but Johnson did not know details. A search of court records revealed no criminal records on the couple.
Each had daughters from previous marriages. The two girls, ages 14 and 15, were home when the couple began arguing, Johnson said. Both were placed with relatives after the incident, according to Division of Child and Family Services spokeswoman Carol Sisco.
Johnson said Schutz and Maddox had been arguing for some time over visitors to Schutz's home parking in the lot of Jimbo's Drive Inn.
E-MAIL: djensen@desnews.com