On a tragic evening in the Oil Valley community of Wayne County, Kentucky, the lives of a family were shattered by a violent outburst that left three people dead. On October 13, 2017, 55-year-old Sandra D. Dolen, a female resident of Monticello, was shot and killed in her home. The initial horror of this event was soon compounded by another senseless act of violence.
Following the shooting of his wife, the perpetrator, identified as Sandra's 57-year-old husband, Paul E.
Dolen, proceeded to a nearby residence. There, he confronted and fatally shot his 62-year-old cousin, Russell F. Dolen. The motive for this devastating sequence of events remains unclear, leaving a community to grapple with the sudden and profound loss.
When deputies from the Wayne County Sheriff's Office arrived at the scene, they located Paul Dolen in a barn on the family's property. He was heavily armed with two handguns and a rifle. According to reports from the Kentucky State Police, when confronted by law enforcement, Paul Dolen opened fire in the direction of the deputies.
In response to the threat, the deputies returned fire, and Paul Dolen was fatally wounded at the scene. The deputies involved in the shooting were not injured. The Kentucky State Police took charge of the investigation into both the double murder and the subsequent officer-involved shooting that ended the violent rampage. The bodies of Sandra, Russell, and Paul Dolen were all sent to the State Medical Examiner's Office in Frankfort for autopsies to be performed.
