Motive a mystery in shooting deaths

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Police have learned who shot whom in a 24th floor room at a beach resort and closed the investigation into the vacationing couple’s death, but they might never know why.

Housekeepers at the Tidewater Beach Resort on Front Beach Road found the bodies of Robert Marcinkus and Susan Marcinkus around 10 a.m. Friday. They were both dead of gunshot wounds in what police called a self contained crime scene.

The couple had been expected to check out of their room Friday morning and return home to Kenosha, Wis. Investigators believe they died sometime Wednesday.

The Medical Examiner’s Office conducted autopsies, and police determined Robert Marcinkus killed his wife before turning the gun on himself, said Panama City Beach Police Chief Drew Whitman.

“He was the one in possession of the gun,” Whitman said.

Investigators searched the couple’s background for signs of physical or mental illness and found none, Whitman said. Police didn’t find evidence of financial problems either, Whitman said, so the motive for the shooting might never be known.

“We’ll probably never be able to figure that out,” Whitman said. “Whatever happened in that room will probably stay in that room.”

According to the Kenosha News, Robert Marcinkus was a retired English teacher with Kenosha Unified School District and Susan Marcinkus was a retired former director of support services for law enforcement.

Investigators said they consider the case closed pending any further developments.