Rowena Sharpe murdered by husband, police say

Fredericton Police confirmed Thursday that Rowena Sharpe waskilled by her estranged husband, who then committed suicide.

Rowena Sharpe, 38, died early Tuesday morning in her home on the St. Mary's First Nation.

Police saythat 45-year-old Kevin Sharpeforced his way into the family home. They say he used a weapon to kill his wife, but that it was not a firearm.

Three of the couple's four children were in the home at the time, but were not physically hurt.

Const. Rick Mooney also confirmed reports that police had responded to repeated calls from the Sharpe home.

Neighbours said police were at the home several times, as recently as last week, and that Kevin Sharpe had been arrested.

This case has drawn public attention to the issue of domestic violence.

Carmen Gill,of the Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research at UNB in Fredericton, said there are risk factors for domestic homicide.

One of those is a significantly younger partner in a relationship where there has been domestic violence, she said.

A victim is most at risk, Gill said, just after separation.

But, there are things police can do, she said.

"If it's a very serious, high-level domestic violence, they could watch the house. There's many things that can be done," Gill said.

"But you cannot just decide because there's domestic violence here you're going to start doing the same thing at every single place."

There are better services and interventions than there used to be, she said. Rates of domestic homicides have dropped over the past 30 years.