TAVARES, Fla. — Investigators said Friday that a man who fatally shot a woman and a man while they slept at a Tavares home before killing himself had previously dated the woman.
Leesburg police said Joseph B. McGuirl, 47, texted someone suicidal remarks early Thursday.
Read: Man arrested, charged with premeditated murder after missing 18-year-old found dead in swamp
Police said they were able to obtain GPS data that showed that his vehicle was parked at Lakecrest and Shorewood drives.
This browser does not support the video element.
Leesburg police said they contacted Tavares police at about 9:30 a.m. Thursday, requesting that they conduct a well-being check at the Lakecrest Drive home after McGuirl, James Delgiorno, 41, and Wendy Higgins, 39, all did not show up to work. The three worked together.
When police arrived at the home, which belonged to Delgiorno, neighbors approached them to report gunfire that they had heard hours earlier, at about 3 a.m.
Read: Gov. DeSantis, first lady DeSantis announce new ‘resiliency’ curriculum for Florida students
At about 9:45 a.m., police noticed that a sliding glass door leading to the master bedroom of the home had been shattered.
Investigators said they discovered the bodies of Delgiorno and Higgins lying in the bed and the body of McGuirl lying on the floor near Higgins. Officials said McGuirl had shot the couple before killing himself.
Read: 3 coworkers killed in apparent murder-suicide in Tavares, police say
Detectives said McGuirl and Higgins were previously in a romantic relationship, but Higgins broke things off.
They said Higgins agreed to remain friends with McGuirl, but he couldn’t accept that she had moved on with Delgiorno.