She sought refuge from her failing marriage at her friend's home just off of Old Mill Road in Conowingo, and that's where it appears Heidi Artrip found herself with no place left to hide when her husband took matters into his own hands.
"A resident at that location had responded and unfortunately observed two bodies in the yard, contacted 911," said Lt. Michael Holmes of the Cecil County Sheriff’s Office.
Holmes says Heidi died from multiple gunshots while her husband, Jeffrey Artrip, died from a single shot and a firearm was discovered at the scene.
"We are still investigating anything that may have happened over the last couple of days that may have triggered this event, if there was something... interaction between the two of them that caused for this to happen," said Holmes.
A search of recent records reveals Heidi's mother died last month and by the time she was buried a week later, Heidi was charged with assaulting her husband and had filed for a divorce three days later.
Yet police say it was Jeffrey Artrip who apparently pulled the trigger ending both of their lives.
"It's hard to prevent and it's tough on investigators because it's tragic in all senses, because they're dealing with two families who are missing loved ones and then sometimes there's accusations between the two families," said Holmes.
They are the painful, grief-filled fall out of domestic violence when it reaches its most violent end, and those who befriended and tried to offer protection to the estranged wife hope her death was not in vain.
"This should have never happened,” said Roger Moorem, who lives nearby on Old Mill Road, “You know people need to start getting help. I don't know how, but this can't happen. Everybody's life changed. I mean it's tragic. It's just tragic and that's all I can say."
Police confirm they had responded to previous calls for service at the couple's home, but they are not commenting on the details of those incidents.
At the time of the shootings, they were living in houses along the same stretch of road just two miles apart.
Both victims were transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore for autopsies.
