Anchorage Daily News

A former worker at a Petersburg storage business walked up to his ex-boss with a shotgun, pulled the trigger and killed her before turning the weapon on himself, Petersburg police said Tuesday.

Killed in the apparent murder-suicide were the business' manager Helen Shear, 40, and the alleged gunman, Peter Baron, 44.

Shear used to co-own the business with her ex-husband, Guy Bartlett, Petersburg police chief Dale Stone said. The couple had gone out of state for a time and put Baron in charge, but they ended his employment this spring after returning, he said.

The motive for the attack was unclear. Police have ruled out a robbery or theft, and there did not appear to be any substantial relationship between Shear and Baron, Stone said. The investigation was still under way, and Stone said he did not want to speculate about the motive.

"They were not in a dating relationship ever," Stone said. "I believe their work relationship was a friendly basis, but there was no romantic relationship."

The shootings took place Friday at about 10:40 a.m. in the parking lot of the business, B & G Heated Mini Storage, and an attached apartment located at 300 Mitkof Highway, he said.

Shear, a well-liked and respected woman, divorced Bartlett in June but was still living in the attached apartment, Stone said. Calls to a listing for Bartlett were not returned Tuesday.

After just a few years in Petersburg, Baron, a relative newcomer, was an unmarried man who had established a reputation as a quiet, hard worker who mostly kept to himself, Stone said.

Neither he nor the others involved had criminal records in Alaska, according to court records.

Friday morning, Baron walked up to Shear in the business' driveway and, according to witness accounts, pulled his 12-gauge hunting shotgun on her, apparently without warning. After shooting Shear, Baron put the shotgun to his head and pulled the trigger, he said.

"We had some witnesses. It was from a distance," Stone said. "What they saw from a distance did not initially look to them like a dispute."

The state medical examiner conducted an autopsy on Shear and Baron, though Stone said he didn't have the results immediately available Tuesday afternoon. Alcohol or drugs did not appear to have been factors, he said.

Petersburg, a town of 3,100 about 120 miles from Juneau, last saw a murder about three years ago, but before that it had been maybe 50 years, Stone said.

"This is a pretty peaceful community, and it's a real shock," Stone said. "The victim was well-liked in the community and a hard worker."

Find James Halpin online at adn.com/contact/jhalpin or call him at 257-4589.

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