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Two dead after domestic argument turns violent in North BranchA husband and wife are dead following a domestic dispute that turned violent in the early morning hours Monday at their North Branch home. According to the North Branch Police Department, officers responded to a domestic call involving a male and female shortly after 1 a.m. Monday, Feb. 17 at a home on the 5100 block of Finley Court in North Branch. When officers arrived, the male was holding a handgun inside of the home. As officers responded, the male shot the female. North Branch Police officers fired on the male. As officers from North Branch, Lindstrom, Chisago City and the Chisago County Sheriff's Department secured the scene, officers entering the residence found both parties were shot. Both the female and the male were pronounced dead at the scene. North Branch Police Department Lieutenant Steve Forner said one of his officers had discharged a weapon, but during investigation Monday it was determined that the male had died from self-inflicted wounds. The dead are identified as Jane Elaine Samec, 46, and William Samec, 45. The estranged husband reportedly was confronted in front of a garage door by a North Branch police officer and shots were exchanged. Samec then reportedly fired more shots inside, killing his wife. He then reportedly went to an upstairs bedroom and shot himself in the head. An eight-year-old son reportedly hid under the covers of a bed in that room. Jane Samec was an assistant nurse manager of the neonatal intensive-care unit of Children's Hospital, St. Paul. Neighbors who knew the couple said Monday they were shocked that this happened in such a quiet neighborhood in North Branch. None of them said they heard anything prior to 1:00 a.m. coming from inside the home. It is unclear where the call to police came from. The couple had four children; it has not been determined whether any were home at the time of the shootings. Friends close to the couple's children said they knew the parents had been having problems. "But I didn't know it would go to this extreme," one girl said. Another girl close to the family said she thought the mother had asked the father to move out, and had filed a restraining order against him. Despite the problems between the husband and wife, they were always welcome into the home by the mom, Dan Nelson said. Nelson graduated with one of the couples' sons. "You could call her mom ö she always made sure her kids were having fun. She'd joke around with us, let all the friends hang out at her house. She was the nicest person. It's really sad this had to happen," he said. He said he believed that the children were all staying with an uncle, and were currently not living in the home. The investigation is being handled by the North Branch Police Department, Chisago County Sheriff's Department and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
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