September 14, 2007
Press Release

 Two Die of Gunshot Wounds in Bedford County

Two people are dead in what deputies are investigating as a murder/suicide Friday at a house off of Centerville Road just east of Bedford City.

Sherrie Gail Conner, 43, was found dead in her home at 2380 Screechum Hollow Road around 6:30 a.m. from one or more gunshot wounds, according to a Bedford County Sheriff’s Office news release.

The man police believe shot her, 45-year-old Louis E. O’Brian, was also in the home, shot in the head.

O’Brian was rushed to Bedford Memorial Hospital and later to Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where his family made the decision to take him off life support shortly after 4 p.m., said Major Ricky Gardner of the sheriff’s office.

Conner’s 10-year-old son was home at the time and is the one who called 911, said Sheriff Mike Brown. The boy was not injured in the shooting and is now staying with family.

“The 911 call was placed by the deceased woman’s young child, a very brave and courageous young person,” Brown wrote in the news release.

Conner’s small brick home on the rural road was surrounded by cars Friday as family gathered to collect personal belongings. Cars spilled to the end of the driveway, where Felix Jackson, a family friend, stood to protect the family from visitors.

Jackson said the family does not want to talk publicly about what happened yet, citing a need for some time to cope with the loss.

O’Brian apparently parked at the Western Lights Church on Centerville Road and walked the mile to Conner’s house, Jackson said. That has not been confirmed by the sheriff’s office.

Austin Wilson, a neighbor, said he saw the tan-colored truck parked in the lot behind the church.

“That guy parked that truck and walked down there,” Wilson said. “There had to be someone that saw him.”
Wilson noticed the truck early Friday but thought that it belonged to someone who perhaps had been drinking and gotten a ride home.

O’Brian lived in a mobile home at 226 Abandoned Mill Lane in Appomattox, according to a search warrant filed Friday in Appomattox County Circuit Court.

Donny Simpson, an investigator with the Appomattox County Sheriff’s Office, filed the warrant at the request of Bedford County Sheriff’s investigators.

Investigators were looking for any papers, notes, computers, cell phones and anything that can send, receive or store any e-mail or text message, according to the warrant.

The Bedford County Sheriff’s Department is not releasing the 911 tapes because they are classified as part of an ongoing criminal investigation.

LePere said that Conner’s funeral service will take place at Big Island Baptist Church, but arrangements were incomplete as of Friday.

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