In the fall of 2010, a domestic situation escalated into a tragic and fatal conclusion for 46-year-old Shirlen Dyson. Her life was cut short in a violent encounter that unfolded in a Noblesville, Indiana neighborhood. On that Monday, Shirlen was in her car when her husband, Vincent Dyson, also 46, reportedly forced her off the road. He then fired two shots into her vehicle, striking her in the chest and causing her death.
The grim series of events did not end there.
A short time later, police in the nearby city of Carmel located a vehicle that matched the description of the one driven by the suspect in the Noblesville shooting. As officers from the Fishers Police Department approached the car on I-465, Vincent Dyson took his own life with a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. Investigators later classified the case as a murder-suicide.
Further examination of the couple's history revealed a pattern of domestic turmoil leading up to the fatal incident. Court records indicated that Shirlen Dyson had been taking legal steps to protect herself. Just two days after a domestic disturbance call to their shared home, she had filed a burglary report. Following this, she sought and was granted a protective order against her husband, which prohibited him from contacting her. In her request for the order, she stated that he had struck her and that she intended to file for divorce. The protective order was granted in September, just a month before the murder-suicide. In addition to the order of protection, Shirlen had also requested an eviction notice to have her husband removed from their home.
