Inset: Robert T. Child (Mason County Sheriff's Office). Background: Child is arrested by deputies (Mason County Sheriff's Office).
A man in Washington state killed his wife and her boyfriend with a shotgun the day after she was granted a protection order against him, authorities say.
Robert T. Child, 60, faces two charges of first-degree murder and burglary, jail records reviewed by Law&Crime state. The defendant was booked into the Mason County Jail on Wednesday.
The victims were identified by Seattle NBC affiliate KING as Anna Child and Jason Hilde, both of whom were 46 years old.
Anna Child filed for a protection order against Robert Child on March 9, according to law enforcement. In her request, she claimed her husband had stated that "If he can't have me, no one will," and she detailed how "I don't feel safe."
On Monday, a Mason County judge approved the protection order, which banned the defendant from coming within 250 feet of his wife, according to the regional TV station. The couple were also in the process of getting a divorce.
On Tuesday, Anna Child and Hilde were at a home in Hoodsport, Washington, when Robert Child reportedly entered the residence. The suspect proceeded to shoot the two victims with a shotgun before getting in his white pickup truck and driving away, authorities say.
A neighbor said he heard the blasts, called 911, and headed toward the home, and as he did so, he encountered the suspect, whom he considered a friend.
"I said, Rob, what … did you do? And he said, 'Dude, they pointed a gun at me, and I killed them,'" Caleb McGill recounted to KING. "Really gruesome, most gruesome thing I've ever seen. I've never experienced anything like that."
Law enforcement arrived at the home around 7 p.m. to find Hilde near the front door with a gunshot wound to the head. Anna Child was on a stairway with gunshot wounds, and a shotgun and spent shells were also discovered inside the home.
The Mason County Sheriff's Office reported that night that it was "actively investigating a double homicide related to a domestic violence incident that occurred in the Hoodsport area" and "working the area as part of an ongoing search for the suspect."
Robert Child was arrested on Wednesday evening.
Mason County Sheriff Ryan Spurling reportedly said that authorities had not yet served the protection order to Robert Child when the alleged double murder occurred. The sheriff has ordered an investigation to see whether law enforcement could have done more to prevent the deaths.