By April Drew

AN Irishman is in critical condition after shooting his wife and subsequently turning the gun on himself in their family home in St. Petersburg, Florida after what police say was a domestic quarrel.

Dermot Reid, 52, shot his wife, Stacey Plummer, 43, with a .38-caliber handgun and then attempted suicide by shooting himself in the head.

Police were dispatched to the family home on Sunday, September 24 at 9:34 a.m. when Plummer’s 12-year-old daughter, Julia, discovered the bodies of her mother and stepfather lying on the floor. Her mother was lifeless but Reid was still breathing.

He was transported to Bayfront Medical Centre with life threatening injuries.

Detectives are treating the case as an apparent murder/attempted suicide.

Reid, originally from Finglas in Dublin, had four children with two women preceding his marriage to Plummer. He met his first wife Imelda when he was working as a bus conductor in Dublin in 1974. The pair had two sons before parting ways in 1982.

Shortly after his split with his wife he started a relationship with a pharmacy associate, Mary Errity, and they moved to Kent, England where Reid worked as a police officer. They had two children before moving back to Dunleek in Co. Meath were Reid got work with Aer Lingus.

Reid separated from Errity five years ago and moved to Drogheda, Co. Louth before taking early redundancy. Reid came on vacation to the U.S. in October 2004, became fond of the country and decided to stay and start a life for himself here.

Plummer and Reid met last year in a neighborhood restaurant. Reid was out of work at that point. The couple dated for six months and were married in December last year.

Although the Catholic Church had annulled Reid’s marriage to Imelda in 1986, the couple still remained legally married. He obtained a divorce from her in the Pinellas County Courthouse in Florida, where Plummer worked as a family law attorney, in December. Reid remained unemployed and took care of the family while Plummer went to work.

In a statement to the Irish Independent Imelda Reid said, “He had never looked for a divorce in all those years, then he sent a sheriff to my door with papers and was on the phone morning, noon and night. He told me he was illegal in America and was afraid of being deported.

“He said he was in his 50s and it was time he settled down. He must have thought he would live happily ever after.”

Sergeant Jim Border of Pinellas County Sheriffs Office told the Irish Voice that in August they responded to a call from Plummer reporting abuse from her husband but when they got to the house there were no signs of any violence.

“Reid agreed to leave and our deputies stood by until he packed his belongings and left. He was issued with what we call a ‘trespass warning,’ commented Border.

Plummer immediately filed for divorce from her husband, referring to abusive behavior from Reid. Plummer, however, had a change of heart and choose to let her husband back into their $1.5 million home in Terra Verda.

Plummer adopted Julia, Jane 8, and Jacob 6, from numerous orphanages in Russia. The children are now staying with family members.

Reid and Plummer were due to visit Ireland next week for a holiday. He had arranged to meet up with friends in Drogheda.