Vickie Pearsall had been attempting to divorce her husband, Gilbert Pearsall, for nearly eight months, according to court documents.
But on Monday, both were found dead hours apart and with police suspecting Gilbert Pearsall as the shooter.
Metro Nashville Police Department detectives believe Gilbert Pearsall, 51, shot and killed Vickie Pearsall, 48, this morning at her workplace, a dentist’s office in Green Hills. Hours later, Kentucky State Troopers came across Gilbert Pearsall in a vehicle suspected in a hit and run. He apparently died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Gilbert Pearsall, who was married to Vickie Pearsall for more than nine years, had a history of domestic violence against his estranged wife.
Police arrested him for aggravated assault in 2009 for allegedly physically assaulting and threatening his wife with a cocked shotgun.
“I don’t have anything to lose. I’ll kill you and then myself,” Gilbert Pearsall said during the incident, according to a police affidavit.
Vickie Pearsall escaped during the altercation and checked herself into St. Thomas Hospital. While his wife was being treated, Gilbert Pearsall slashed all four tires of her vehicle and was also charged with vandalism, according to police reports.
Davidson County Circuit Court records show that Vickie Pearsall filed four protection petitions against her estranged husband from 2008 to 2011. All four petitions were dismissed, twice for lack of prosecution. Pearsall filed a divorce complaint nearly eight months ago, but the case was still pending.
According to court filings, the couple married in January 2003, but had been separated since January 2011. The divorce complaint claimed irreconcilable differences and inappropriate marital conduct.
Dr. John Williams, her employer, discovered Vickie Pearsall’s body around 7 a.m. Monday. She worked as a receptionist in his office on Crestmoor Road.
Kentucky State Police reported that law enforcement agencies were on the lookout for a silver Mercedes that had been involved in a hit and run. They found the car and Gilbert Pearsall on the side of the I-24.
Vickie Pearsall’s personal belongings were found in the car. Police allege the silver Mercedes also matched eyewitnesses’ descriptions of a car leaving the scene in Green Hills this morning.