NORTH COUNTY – A Ramona man accused of strangling his second wife and burying her body in their backyard two years ago was questioned by police in 1983 after his first wife died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
An Escondido homicide detective who was investigating the shooting wanted to speak with the widower, Keith Turner, after a neighbor reported hearing yelling in the couple's home on Pearl Place that day.
The death of Turner's 28-year-old wife was ruled a suicide about a month later. By then, Turner had already remarried in Nevada.
Turner, 56, pleaded not guilty to murder charges Wednesday after authorities dug up the skeletal remains of Toby Turner, 44. In light of the grisly discovery, authorities are considering reopening the 1983 case.
Investigators in Escondido said yesterday they are waiting to compare notes with the District Attorney's Office before making a decision.
“We are evaluating our involvement in the case and will have a brainstorming session to see if it's something we should be looking at,” Escondido Lt. Craig Carter said.
The coroner's report said Turner came home the evening of April 30, 1983, to find an unsigned and undated suicide note on the kitchen table from his wife, Betty Renae Turner.
Turner said he then discovered her in the garage, lying on a blanket in a nightgown, with a .357-caliber revolver near her right thigh.
Turner said his wife planned to visit with her sisters that day, and he had gone out with some friends.
Turner was questioned at police headquarters after a neighbor said the couple could be heard fighting often, including hours before her death. Details of the police interview were not available.
Turner told a deputy coroner that his wife had been depressed about being fired from her secretarial job in San Marcos about a month earlier.
Betty Turner's grandmother recounted a similar story, saying the young woman was despondent about losing her job and distressed because no one visited her or took her anywhere, the report said.
Toxicology reports showed a trace of alcohol in Betty Turner's body.
The combination of factors, including the proximity and location of the close contact gunshot wound, resulted in a suicide ruling, the coroner's office said.
The widower married Toby Turner on May 17, 1983, in Clark County, Nev., according to a Nevada database.
In October 2005, 24 years into his second marriage, Turner reported to police that his wife was missing.
It wasn't until after his arrest last week that he told deputies he killed her in their San Diego Country Estates home on his birthday, Sept. 19, 2005, after she told him she was leaving him, Deputy District Attorney Kurt Mechals said.
Turner told deputies he moved her remains to a deeper grave when he put his house up for sale this year, Mechals said.
The break in the case came last month when Turner's stepson told deputies he witnessed his mother's slaying.
Turner is being held on $2 million bail. A hearing is scheduled for Dec. 18.
Kristina Davis: (760) 476-8233; kristina.davis@uniontrib.com
