Arizona Gunman Kills 6, Including Ex-Wife and Her Lawyer, Police and Others Say

PHOENIX — A man who was apparently upset over a contentious divorce killed his former wife, her lawyer and three others on Thursday morning in the border city of Yuma, Ariz., before killing himself, the authorities and friends of the victims said.

A Yuma County Sheriff's deputy put up crime scene tape outside of a residence east of Wellton, Ariz., on Thursday. 

The police were still piecing together the confusing situation, which left a trail of six bodies across the city and its environs. After killing five people and wounding a friend of his former wife, the gunman, identified as Carey H. Dyess, 73, of the farming community of Wellton, killed himself, the authorities said.

“It’s a tragedy,” Yuma’s mayor, Alan L. Krieger, said in a telephone interview. “We’re a very close-knit community, and it’s very sad that this happened. It’s unusual, and it’s not reflective of the values of our community.”

The police did not immediately identify the victims pending notification of next of kin, but lawyers in downtown Yuma said one of those killed was Jerrold Shelley, 62, a lawyer who specialized in divorce and criminal defense cases and was nearing retirement. The police said the victims included Mr. Dyess’s former wife and others he knew.

Public records show that Mr. Dyess was married in 2002, but that his mobile home was transferred in 2007 from his name to his former wife’s name because of “dissolution of marriage.” Records also indicate that an order of protection had been issued against Mr. Dyess.

“This is a great loss,” said Robert Roberson, a minister in Johnson City, Tenn., who was Mr. Shelley’s law partner for more than 20 years. After the shooting, Mr. Roberson spoke with Mr. Shelley’s secretary, who saw the gunman barge into the office and open fire. “It’s not unusual to hear about an irate person on the other side in a divorce case who has a grudge against their ex’s divorce lawyer, but nobody expects anything like this,” he said.

Lance A. Francis, another lawyer who knew Mr. Shelley, often referred cases to him. Mr. Shelley was married with grown children and several grandchildren. “He had a stellar reputation,” Mr. Francis said. “A good guy and a good lawyer.”

Another colleague in Yuma, Cristyn E. Weil, said Mr. Shelley, a University of Arizona graduate who had been in private practice since 1975, “helped a lot of people in his practice and his life.”

“The last time I spoke to him he was asking me how my husband was,” Ms. Weil said. “He told me that his son was practicing in Phoenix and had a job with a large firm there, and I could tell that he was very proud of his son.”

As shooting after shooting took place across the city and surrounding areas, law enforcement officials temporarily closed schools and government buildings, seeking to understand who was responsible.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims,” Presiding Judge Andrew W. Gould of Superior Court in Yuma County said in a statement. “We are thankful that those within the courthouse are safe, but we are shocked and saddened at the violent acts that have occurred in our close-knit community.”

Susan Saulny contributed reporting from New York, and Jack Begg contributed research from New York.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: June 2, 2011

Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this article listed the gunman's age as 62. He is 73.

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Christie and G.O.P. Repay State for Helicopter Flights

Mr. Christie insisted that he had done nothing wrong and that he had made the payments — a day after his office said he would not — just to put to rest an issue that suddenly dominated news coverage in the state. And he had some scathing words, even by his sharp-tongued standards, for Democrats, political pundits and journalists.

“I am not going to allow the media and the hacks in the Democratic Party to turn this into something that allows them to do what they always like to do, which is get away from serious issues where you have to make hard choices for things that matter, because they want to have a circus,” he said during a visit here for a bill-signing.

Of the Democrats and others who said his helicopter use might have been illegal, Mr. Christie said, “These guys are a joke.”

He added, “They know full well, full well, that it was none of that stuff at all.”

He lashed out at one Democratic legislator who announced plans to hold a hearing on the matter, and at another, Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle, who had said that leaving his son’s game in the fifth inning on Tuesday to meet with the fund-raisers “says something about the governor’s priorities.”

“She should really be embarrassed at what a jerk she is,” Mr. Christie said.

Joseph Cryan, the Assembly majority leader, lashed back on her behalf, saying, “The governor needs to learn some decency.”

Mr. Christie’s critics have accused him of hypocrisy for taking the flights while preaching austerity. But he has used State Police helicopters far less than his predecessors, including some who flew in them hundreds of times a year. On Thursday, his office released a log of the 33 times it said he had used the aircraft since taking office in January 2010, all but two for official business.

His son Andrew is on the baseball team at Delbarton School in Morristown, which is in the state high school championship playoffs, and Mr. Christie flew to attend the games last Friday and on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, he flew from Trenton to the game in Montvale, at the northern end of the state, and then to the governor’s mansion in Princeton to meet with Republican fund-raisers from Iowa who, Mr. Christie said, tried and failed to persuade him to run for president in 2012. (“They didn’t ask about 2016,” he said, “so I didn’t rule it in or rule it out.”)

On Thursday, the governor paid the state $2,151.50 for the personal trips, and at his request, the state Republican Party paid $1,232.29 for the political leg of the trip Tuesday.

Mr. Christie said he would not change his traveling habits, but would not say whether he would reimburse the state for any future flights. “My son’s next game is tomorrow in Sparta,” he said, adding that he thought he would have time to drive.

The governor appealed for understanding of his role as a father of four. And he drew a contrast to his predecessor, Jon S. Corzine, saying that the alternative to helicopter use was to have the State Police speed him around as they did Mr. Corzine — and risk the kind of near-fatal accident Mr. Corzine had.

The State Police have said that the helicopter trips cost the state no additional expense, because the aircraft are aloft daily, whether or not they are needed for emergencies, to give the pilots experience.

Asked if using the helicopters at a time of deep budget-cutting was politically tone-deaf, Mr. Christie said, “I understand the perception issue.” But he added that he thought the State Police statement would make it disappear.

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