DETECTIVES INVESTIGATE APPARENT MURDER SUICIDE IN DILLARD

Douglas Co. Sheriff's Office

DILLARD, Ore. - A Dillard man shot and killed his live-in girlfriend before turning the gun on himself Sunday evening. 

On Sunday, September 13, 2020, at approximately 5:10 PM, 9-1-1 dispatchers received a call reporting a female had been shot at an address in the 100-block of First Street in Dillard. 

Dispatchers attempted to obtain additional information, but the male disconnected. A deputy briefly spoke to the man on the phone while responding to the address. 

The man told the deputy to "have a good one" and then a gunshot was heard. When deputies arrived a final gunshot was heard from inside the home. 

Deputies entered the residence and located 88 year-old Thomas Dale Higginbothom with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound and a weapon in his lap. Deputies also located 63 year-old Linda Lee Free also of Dillard in another room with a gunshot would. 

Free was pronounced deceased at the scene. Higginbothom was transported to Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg by ambulance where he remains in critical condition and is not expected to survive. 

Detectives from the Sheriff's Office are investigating the incident as an apparent murder - suicide. The Douglas County Medical Examiner's Office also responded and has notified next-of-kin.