Autopsies show husband shot wife in North Dakota murder-suicide on Thanksgiving

Talk about it

GRAND FORKS, N.D. — Autopsies have revealed that a Walhalla, N.D., husband killed his wife and himself with a gun on Thanksgiving, Pembina County Chief Deputy Jeff Osvold said Monday.

John J. Kalis, 52, and Sharon T. Kalis, 41, were found dead in their split-level home after the sheriff’s department received a 911 call shortly before 3 a.m.

Osvold said the autopsies showed that gunshots from a handgun killed the couple. The gun belonged to John Kalis, the chief deputy said.

Osvold said investigators do not believe anyone other than the couple was involved in the shootings.

The 911 call was likely made by Sharon Kalis, Osvold said, but investigators are not certain because dispatchers were met with silence when they picked up the line.

Osvold said deputies had visited the home to resolve domestic disputes recently and in years past. He said investigators will be looking into those responses.

"That’s what the remaining part of the investigation is going to entail. We are just going to be establishing a base for looking at the history — anything in the past that may have come up at the residence," he said.

Osvold said a funeral was planned for Sharon Kalis Monday and one for John Kalis is set for Wednesday.

Walhalla, a town of about 1,000 people, is in the northwestern corner of Pembina County, which borders Canada and Minnesota.

-----

The Grand Forks Herald and the Echo Press are both owned by Forum Communications Company.

Tags: daily updates, crime news, regional news, grand forks, news, murder-suicide