Carter County Sheriff’s Department Investigating Apparent Murder-Suicide

By Nate Morabito
Reporter / WJHL
Published: August 20, 2008

Two people are dead in what Carter County Sheriff Chris Mathes is calling an apparent murder-suicide. Deputies discovered the bodies of Larry Dale Hughes, Jr. and Diana Shell late Tuesday night, dead from apparent gunshot wounds.

Hours before the shooting, Sheriff Mathes said deputies were attempting to serve multiple warrants on Hughes at his home. However, when they arrived, they discovered evidence that he possibly kidnapped Shell, Mathes said. Deputies say Hughes had a history of alleged domestic violence.

Around 8:45 pm Tuesday night, deputies found Shell’s car, abandoned in the Dennis Cove Community of Carter County. Three hours later, they found Hughes and Shell dead in a mountainous area of Dennis Cove.

Although neighbor Larry Wright didn’t know the couple, he knew of them.

“I always wondered what kind of trouble was going on and I figured it was domestic violence,“ Wright said.

Wright says, in the past, he had seen plenty of blue lights at the trailer on Mountainview Drive in Hampton, a place Hughes and Shell’s children called home.

“It’s unfortunate that this tragedy happened you know,“ Wright said. “It’s always the kids that got to pay the price.“

However, according to court documents, those kids may have been paying a price all along. Their mother says she was. In 2001, Shell, who was Diana Hughes at the time, filed a domestic assault report claiming abuse by the man who was her then-husband. She said, “I feel in danger for my life and for my kids lives.“

Just eight days ago, a full seven years later, she echoed those same fears. in an August 12, 2008 Order of Protection sought against Hughes, she said, “He threatened to kill me once again.“

“This is the worst-case scenario in these domestics,“ Sheriff Chris Mathes said. “That’s why we urge people to take these kind of cases very seriously.“

Deputies tried serving that order protection to Hughes several times over the last week with no luck, Mathes said. In fact, that’s what brought them to the Mountainview Drive trailer on Tuesday. However, when they arrived, Sheriff Mathes says the house was in disarray. Still, in the mess, they found a note, perhaps from the gunman himself.

“Possibly he was saying goodbye to the kids,“ Mathes said. “There was a note that said she was leaving. It didn’t say much more than that.“

Eight hours later, deputies found Hughes. Hundreds of yards off a gravel road, deep into the woods, they also found the lifeless body of his ex-wife; the woman the courts were ordering him to leave alone.