73-Year-Old Man Shoots And Kills Daughter-in-Law

Police in are conducting a manhunt for an elderly man who allegedly shot his daughter-in-law to death early Monday.

Eugene Palmer, 73, of Haverstraw, reportedly admitted to relatives that he shot Tammy Palmer, his 39-year-old daughter-in-law, just minutes after she put her two kids on a school bus, according to Fox News.

Tammy's father, John Pannirello told Fox News that Eugene Palmer confessed the killing to his sister, Elaine Babcock shortly after the murder.

“He admitted it, he admitted it to his sister,” Pannirello told FoxNews.com. “He said, ‘I just shot Tammy.’”

Babcock said Palmer first gave her money to pay his taxes and then confessed to the murder.

The last thing he said to her was: "'Give me an hour to get away and then do whatever you have to do — call the police…whatever you have to do,’" she told the station, "and then he just took off."

Haverstraw Police Chief Charles Miller told reporters that Palmer is the prime suspect.
He is considered a skilled huntsman who owns several guns and police told WNYW that he could survive in the woods by himself for a long time.

Tammy Palmer was reportedly estranged from her husband, Palmer's son. Relatives said that the two had been arguing over the son's custody rights.

On Friday, Eugene Palmer reportedly flashed a weapon at Tammy Palmer and she threatened him with a log, according to the Lower Hudson Journal News.

“He had a gun in his holster and wanted to abuse her,” Pannirello told the paper. “She said he wanted her and the kids out of the house. She told him she’s not leaving. She picked up the log to chase him away.”

Pannierello told the paper that Eugene Palmer recently began a campaign of harassment after she took out an order of protection against her husband, John, barring him from the suburban home north of New York City where she was raising their two children.

Police believe Palmer, a retired park ranger, is hiding somewhere near Harriman State Park, close to the New Jersey border. They warn that he is considered armed and dangerous.