Detective Gary Hall, left, with the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office, talks to Fred Wallace on Tiki Island early Tuesday. Wallace is charged with murder and jailed on a $75,000 bond in the shooting death of his wife, Joann Jones Wallace.
TIKI ISLAND — A shooting Tuesday in a custom-built, waterfront house left a woman dead and her husband charged with murder, authorities said Tuesday.
The death of Joann Jones Wallace, 64, who shared her Tiki Island house with her husband, Fred Leonard Wallace, 66, is likely this island community’s first homicide in more than a decade, authorities said.
The husband’s 911 call about 3 a.m. alerted police to his wife’s body, which officers found inside the two-story house in the 1300 block of Tiki Drive, Police Chief Jerry W. Wright said.
Joann Wallace suffered two gunshot wounds to the head, Barry Cook, a Galveston County Sheriff’s Office spokesman, said.
Police found Fred Wallace outside at the front of his house holding a pistol and convinced him to surrender the weapon peacefully, Cook said.
“We’re not sure yet, but we believe it was the weapon involved, a revolver,” Lt. Tommy Hansen, of the sheriff’s office, said.
Authorities accused Wallace of shooting his wife before calling 911. He seemed despondent, Cook said.
“The couple’s recent financial problems may have been the motive,” Cook said.
The couple lived for about five years at the house, Wright said. “I heard the house sold or is selling, and they had already started moving out,” Wright said.
Bond for Wallace was set at $75,000 on a murder charge, Cook said.
‘He Was Very Successful’
Sarah Staton, 17, said her grandparents once lived in Santa Fe but built the house in 2002 to have more room for relatives, including two other grandchildren.
Fred Wallace owned Walco Recycling and Texas Railcar Supply, Staton said. A woman who answered the phone at Waco Recycling confirmed Fred Wallace was still the owner. A number for Texas Railcar Supply was disconnected.
“My grandpa was born in Port Arthur, and he made it pretty big doing his recycling business in Houston,” Staton said. “He was very successful, but it did get shut down once the economy started going down.”
Staton lived with her grandparents for about four months, she said. The couple was planning to move into an apartment after selling the Tiki Island house, Staton said.
‘They Were Christian People’
The couple attended Midway Church of Christ in Hitchcock, Staton said.
“Every Sunday morning, every Sunday evening and every Wednesday night, if the doors were open, they were there,” Staton said. “They were Christian people. They’ve always been so involved with the church. It’s a big shock.”
Phone and e-mail messages left with the church weren’t immediately returned Tuesday.
Joann Wallace was retired but worked at pharmacies, Staton said. “She taught me how to crochet,” Staton said. “She used to make quilts with all the ladies at the church for the homeless.”
Staton recalled the Monday night message she received on a social networking site from her grandmother.
“She said, ‘Hi Sarah. I just wanted to let you know I love you and miss you,’” Staton said. “I can’t wait to hear from you.’”
Rare Crimes
Crimes of such magnitude are rare in the affluent community of about 1,000 people just across the causeway from Galveston.
“I’ve been here 11 years, and I don’t think we’ve had anything of that nature or a major crime, other than a suicide,” Wright said.
Hansen recalled a domestic dispute that resulted in a homicide in Tiki Island 15 or 20 years ago.
Tiki Island Mayor Phillip Hopkins, who has lived in Tiki Island for 13 years, couldn’t remember any incident of violent crime.
