Autopsies performed on the man and woman killed in a West Davis shooting last week confirmed the deaths were the result of a murder-suicide, Yolo County coroner’s officials announced Monday night.
Whitney Joypauline Engler, a 27-year-old veterinary student at UC Davis, suffered two fatal shots to the head and chest and was the victim of homicide, Chief Deputy Coroner Gina Moya said. Joseph Andrew Hein, 23, took his own life with a self-inflicted shot to the head.
Toxicology tests will be performed, but results are not expected to be available for at least several weeks.
The motive for the fatal shootings remains under investigation by the Davis Police Department, which released no new details on the case Monday.
Relatives of both Engler and Hein said the pair were friends but were not romantically involved. They became roommates in December, a couple of years after they developed a friendship over their mutual interest in bicycling.
Officers responded to their Glacier Drive duplex shortly before 7 p.m. Thursday by a man — believed to be Hein — who called 911 to report that police would find two people dead of gunshot wounds inside the home.
Suspicious that an active shooter might still be in the house, police took heightened precautions that included the deployment of a SWAT team, the Yolo County Bomb Squad and two armored vehicles. Officers entered the duplex at about 2 a.m. Friday and discovered the bodies.
Hein’s mother, Lois Hall, said she was mystified by the act of violence, saying her son “liked and respected Whitney” and showed no signs of being depressed or suicidal.
Meanwhile, Engler’s grieving friends and classmates received some comfort Sunday with the knowledge that Engler’s pets that had gone missing during the police activity were found safe.
Rosie, a 4-year-old Australian shepherd, was found by a local orthodontist, Dr. Benton Runquist, who spotted her Sunday morning while riding his elliptical bike on County Road 100A near Road 29, about three miles northeast of the Glacier Drive duplex.
In an email to The Enterprise, Runquist said knew a massive search effort for Rosie was underway when he saw numerous fliers posted in his North Davis neighborhood over the weekend. Even more were being put up as he left for his Sunday morning ride.
“For whatever reason I decided to go further than I usually do,” Runquist said, heading north on Sycamore Lane until it became a county roadway, where he began calling Rosie’s name.
At the Teichert Construction property south of Road 29, “I noted a dog lying on the grass, in the shade, like she owned the place,” Runquist said. Recognizing Rosie from the fliers, he yelled her name and got her to go to him.
“I took off my helmet and glasses and sat with her and tried to reassure her everything was OK,” Runquist said. With no cell phone on hand, he flagged down a passing car and asked the couple inside to find a nearby flier and call the number listed on it.
He stayed with Rosie — who was wet and matted but appeared uninjured — comforting her until help arrived.
“She didn’t mind getting a rubdown and when I told her to lie down, she did,” Runquist said. “Later, when I was rubbing her and I said ‘kisses,’ she gave me a kiss. … A very sweet and well-behaved dog.”
Two carloads of UCD vet students arrived about 10 minutes later “to what turned out to be an emotional reunion hug-fest,” Runquist said, who later came to understand Rosie’s role in the West Davis tragedy. “I had no idea how intense the effort had been and how hard they had been looking for her.”
Later that day, searchers discovered Chique, Engler’s once-missing cat, through an upstairs window of the home. She was recovered Sunday night by Yolo County animal control officers, Chief Animal Services Officer Vicky Fletcher said.
Engler’s mother, Virginia Bigler, told The Enterprise that her daughter had raised Rosie from puppyhood and had trained her to become a certified service dog. She said the family had been hopeful for the dog’s return.
“She was as much Whitney as Whitney was,” Bigler said.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene
