CHESAPEAKE, Va. — The Chesapeake Police Department is investigating a murder-suicide.
Police said 58-year-old Henry Thomas Sr. shot and killed his wife, 48-year-old Vikki Thomas, before he shot himself.
Their son, Henry Thomas Jr. said the couple was in the middle of a separation, after 24 years of marriage.
Police were called to Vikki Thomas's Rutgers Avenue home around 2 p.m. on October 15th where they found her dead with gunshot wounds.
Officers then went to a home on Southport Avenue around 8 p.m. where they tried to make contact with Henry Thomas Sr.
They heard a single gunshot before officers went inside the home and found Thomas Sr. with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Thomas Sr. later died at a hospital.
Thomas Jr. said Vikki Thomas was in the process of moving into the Rutgers Avenue home, and Henry Thomas Sr. was moving out to the Southport Avenue home.
“She was in the middle of unpacking. Where they found her at, it was a storage room area," Thomas Jr. said. "She was probably moving stuff around, getting stuff situated for the transition.”
Thomas Jr. said he found out his step-mother was dead after his sister called him with the news.
“I got a call around 8:30 last night from my sister – sounding out of breath, sounding tired, sounding like something was wrong. I just asked her what was going on. She said, "Dad shot mom and she’s gone,” Thomas Jr. said. “When I got here from Durham, they let me know my dad was gone too.”
Thomas Jr. lives in North Carolina.
He said his mother was supposed to meet his sister that night, but never made it.
“She was supposed to be at bible study last night with my sister. My sister said she never showed up," Thomas Jr. said. "She got a phone call about mid-way through bible study and that’s when they said you need to come to the house. That’s when we found out everything that was going on.”
Vikki Thomas is a retired navy lieutenant.
Thomas Jr. described her as a "godly woman" who was steadfast in her faith and always wanted to best for those around her.
“Vikki is a beautiful spirit, a godly woman, very humble - from humble beginnings who worked her way up through the navy, became a lieutenant, retired," he said.
“A person like Vikki, extracting her out this world is more detrimental for everyone else than it is at the moment for us. She was a person who always wanted to do better, wanted to be better, always wanted the people around her to be better. She put people first, put their feelings first, to make sure they understood that she was walking in her faith.”
He said his father also retired from the navy, and as for whether he’s surprised his dad took his own life, Thomas Jr. said, “What else could he do?”
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.