On December 11, 2007 in the town of Quitman, Texas two people were shot to death; Nichole Payne, wife of Jason Payne and her son by a previous marriage, Austin Taylor Wages.
Upon discovering the two bodies Jason immediately called 911 from his house and told the operator that
“his wife and his son are both shot” and that he needed help. Police Officers responded and found Jason's wife Nichole, dead in her bedroom. She had been shot in the head, and her body was still warm when the police arrived. The police found Taylor, Nichole's teenaged son lying on his bed with a fatal gunshot wound to his head. His body was found in what was described as a sort of a garage apartment that was his bedroom. His body, according to police on the scene was cold to the touch (this later to be disputed by the medical examiner). He had a rifle between his legs, and it appeared that he might have shot himself and committed suicide.
Jason told the police that he did not shoot Nichole or Taylor. He told the police that he left the house that morning and dropped his five year old son off at school at around 8 am. He told the police that he and his two year old daughter were in route to the house, but he turned around to go back to town to take her to the park. He said that they did not go to the park, but went back to the house to tell Nichole their plans. However, upon returning, instead of going into the house, he and his daughter went to throw acorns into a creek on the property. Jason said that after stopping to check on some birds that were part of a family business, he went into the house and discovered Nichole and Taylor. His call to 911 was made at 9:09 AM.
