Police: Petaluma couple died after man shot himself, wife hit unintentionally by bullet

Petaluma police believe the deaths of a couple whose bodies were found in their home late last month were the result of a suicide and an unintentional shooting, a police official said Monday.

Harley King, 66, and Dixie King, 79, may have died several days before Petaluma police discovered them on July 31 inside their home on Del Sol Way, police Lt. Tim Lyons said, adding that they had been shot with a single bullet.

“It appeared that when he shot himself, it went through him and hit her,” Lyons said of the bullet, which was fired from a revolver found near their bodies.

The Kings were found lying next to each other in their bed, Lyons added.

Their deaths are being described as a suicide with an accidental shooting, he said.

A final autopsy is pending and the incident remains under investigation.

Police forced their way into the home just after 3 p.m. July 31 after family reported they hadn’t heard from the couple for more than a week.

Both Kings had gunshot wounds to their chests and there was no sign of a struggle or forced entry into their home.

Early in the investigation, police confirmed that one of the Kings had fired the gun, but authorities stopped short of ruling the couple’s deaths a murder-suicide.

They haven’t determined the exact time of the shooting or whether Dixie King was asleep when she was shot, although bedroom lights were not on when officers got to the home.

Harley King left a handwritten note that was “short with not much detail,” Lyons said, but appeared to indicate he was “apologizing and sorry about family members.”

The shooting, which occurred in a residential area north of Highway 116 in east Petaluma, was the city’s first homicide of the year.

One day after the shooting, neighbors had expressed shock and disbelief over the deaths of two people they described as nice and quiet.

The large police presence outside the home was unusual for an otherwise quiet neighborhood, neighbors said.

A day into the investigation, Lyons had confirmed police have never been called to the home for other matters.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi