MS Coast woman beaten to death in domestic violence murder-suicide, authorities say

A Gautier woman was allegedly beaten to death the night before police say her husband shot and killed himself in a suspected murder-suicide Monday, according to authorities.

Jackson County Coroner Bruce Lynd Jr. identified her suspected killer as Randall James Oliveira, 55. He said the couple moved to Mississippi from Rhode Island and are believed to be natives of Massachusetts.

Lynd said the woman died of blunt force trauma to the body sometime Sunday night. She is not being identified pending notification of next of kin.

Gautier Police Chief David Bever said police began an investigation after they went to the couple’s home in the 1700 block of Pat Drive in response to a welfare call.

An officer got to the home, rang the doorbell, heard a gunshot and called for additional units to respond.

Bever said officers forced their way inside the home and found Oliveira dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the living room and found the woman dead in a bathroom in the home.

Prior to Monday’s response, Bever said police had not responded to a domestic violence call at the home.

Gautier police are investigating the case as murder-suicide.

If you are a victim of domestic violence in South Mississippi and need help, you can call the crisis line at the Gulf Coast Center for Nonviolence at 1-800-800-1396.