The wife of a retired police sergeant who was found shot to death yesterday at their home in Queens has been charged in his murder, police said.
Raymond Sheehan, 48, was found dead by police at about 1 p.m. at his home at 9908 158th Ave. in the Howard Beach section of Queens, police said. He had sustained a gunshot wound and his wife, Barbara Sheehan, 46, was taken in for questioning and later charged, police said.
Sources with knowledge of the investigation said initial evidence allegedly pointed to Ms. Sheehan as the killer. She was interrogated for most of the day at the 106th Precinct house, police said.
The victim was allegedly shot in the bathroom during a dispute over a vacation, police sources said.
Sheehan had taken a private sector security job after leaving the police force, and Ms. Sheehan, a school secretary, seemed to be a happy family, several neighbors said. Their daughter, Jennifer, 21, and their teenage son, Raymond, attends college and do not live in the home, police sources said.
"She isn't the kind of person that would pull a gun on her husband," a neighbor who has known the Sheehans for about 17 years, Ruth Clemente, said. "There must have been some provocation. She is a very intelligent woman."
Police discovered Sheehan's body after receiving a 911 call reporting a domestic dispute at the Sheehan home. Mrs. Clemente, who lives next door and was home all day yesterday, said she did not hear any gunshots.