Morganton psychologist dead from apparent murder-suicide

By RICHARD SCOTT Wolf Creek AM Broadcasting

Dr. John S. Currie. Funeral Services were to be held monday morning in Smyrna, Georgia for the victims of an apparent murder-suicide in Morganton, Ga.

According to Fannin County Sheriff George Ensley, the bodies of 68-year-old Doctor John Stuart Currie, and his 57-year-old wife Leslie Stallings Currie, were found Thursday evening at the couple's home in Morganton.

According to the Sheriff, friends of Mrs. Currie became concerned for her well-being, when she failed to show up for a scheduled meeting. At the friends request, a sheriff's deputy went to the couple's home to check on their welfare. Sheriff Ensley says the deputy found Doctor Currie inside his car parked in a carport at the home, dead from an apparently selfinflicted gunshot wound.

After getting permission from family members to search the locked house, deputies found Mrs. Currie dead in her bed. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which is now handling the case, is still awaiting autopsy results on the cause of Mrs. Currie's death. But Special-Agent-in-Charge John Cagle said the woman suffered a non-fatal gunshot wound, then was apparently strangled or suffocated in her bed.

According to Cagle, it is believed that the couple died sometime late Tuesday night or Wednesday. Mrs. Currie had spoken with friends by telephone late Tuesday afternoon. Neither Agent Cagle nor Sheriff Ensley would say what might have prompted the murder suicide. The Sheriff confirmed that investigators did find a suicide note at the scene.

Doctor Currie was a wellknown psychologist in Georgia, specializing in neuropsychology and forensic psychology. He had offices in Ellijay and in Smyrna, Georgia, where he and his wife had their principal residence.