Shawnee Residents Shook Up After Husband, Wife Murder Investigation

A man accused of murdering his wife in their home leaves a quiet Shawnee community reeling.

Shawnee Police arrested 25-year-old Justin Byus Thursday morning.And this isn't the first time tragedy has hit this family.

Yellow tape around a home on Bella Vista Lane was unlike anything neighbors had seen before.

"Just a shock, just a shock, just wondering what in the world is happening," said Cathy Hobbs, who lives down the street in the close-knit Shawnee neighborhood. "Seeing that crime scene tape, you know I just thought my goodness you know."

Hobbs says she heard the couple, Justin and Cathy Byus, had been fighting, but was shocked to hear Cathy died from a gunshot wound Thursday morning, and the suspected gunman is her husband Justin.

"They have two children, and it's just quite a shock in this neighborhood. Nothing like that happens," Hobbs said. "I guess they had some problems and it came to an end."

Shawnee Police swarmed the Byus home after 4 a.m. and arrested Justin. Aaron Lynch grew up in the neighborhood and says the Byus couple had only lived in their home for a year. Lynch lives across the street from their home and says Justin was acting strange on Wednesday.

3/21/2013Related Story: Husband Arrested After Wife Found Dead In Edmond Home

"I heard a conversation being held between him and his friendthat I thought was a little out of the ordinary," Lynch said. "He was saying things he shouldn't have been saying, and it was kind of spooky."

Court records show in 2006 Justin pleaded guilty to assault andbattery on a juvenile detention center employee. And in 2007, he pleaded guilty for uttering a forged instrument.

Tragedy piled on the Byus couple in 2010, the same year the two married. Cathy's parents Gary and Linda Haas of Tecumseh were murdered in their RV in New Mexico by two Arizona escaped inmates and an accomplice. All three were convicted for their murders.

3/17/2011 Related Story: Familyof Murdered Tecumseh Couple Suing State Of Arizona, Prison Company

"Threemurders in three years, that's a lot," Byus said. "I have so much remorse for this family."

Shawnee PoliceSgt. Dan Shumaker says he can't recall ever being called out to the neighborhood where the Byus's lived.

"The homicides just hurt everybody in this community," Shumaker said. "And again,there's a lot of questions to be answered.

"Justin Byus was booked for murder in the Pottawatomie County Public Safety Center. No word on who's looking after Byus's children.

8/20/2010 Related Story: Familyof Murdered Tecumseh Couple Relieved by Fugitives' Arrests