An Indiana anesthesiologist shot dead his wife minutes after the last guest
left their wedding party early on Sunday morning after an alleged alcohol fueled
argument over a pre-nuptial agreement turned tragic.
Dr. George 'Scott' Samson, 54, is said to have told his new wife, Kelly
Ecker, 50, that she would 'never get her hands on his money' during the wedding
reception at the Ohio Building in Terre Haute on Saturday evening.
According to witnesses, the argument became increasingly bitter when the
wedding after-party moved to Samson and Ecker's mansion, with guests deciding to
leave at 1.17am on Sunday morning as the fighting escalated.
Three minutes after the final guest departed, Ecker, who is a nurse at the
same hospital as Samson, made the first of three terrified 911 calls claiming
her husband was going to kill her.
The first two frantic calls to the dispatcher ended abruptly, but moments
later Ecker phoned back, her trembling voice pleading for help, before a volley
of gunshots rang out and the phone line cut.
Less than half-an-hour later, officers who who responded to the couple's
Terre Haute home discovered the body of Ecker, fatally shot in the head and neck
and in the basement the body of Samson, who had taken his own life with a
45-caliber semi automatic pistol.
According to Advance Indiana, the reception had been changed from the
newlywed's home to the Ohio Building at the last minute and the marquee tent set
up in their garden still hauntingly sits outside their home.
Police said that Samson shot his wife multiple times with a 40-caliber
handgun and records show that the Terre Haute doctor held a Federal Firearms
License, which effectively enabled him to trade and sell weapons from his
property - in a manner similar to a gun store owner.
Indeed, according to Advance Indiana, police recovered a literal arsenal of
weapons from the home, including assault rifles, hand guns and several hundred
rounds of ammunition.
'They had just gotten married and something went terribly wrong,' said Vigo
County Coroner, Dr. Susan Amos.
'He shot her and then shot himself. We are still in a second autopsy to
confirm that.'
Witnesses told the IndyStar that the couple had argued at the end of their
reception and the final guest left anesthesiologist Samson's home at 1.17am.
Ecker, a nurse at Union Hospital, phoned 911 at 1.20am after witnesses said
their argument about money spiraled out of control.
'The investigation has revealed that there was an verbal argument between the
couple toward the end of the reception, which carried over to the after party at
the couples' home,' said Vigo County Chief Deputy Sheriff Clark Cottom in an
email to the IndyStar.
'Shortly after the last guest left at around 1:17 a.m., Kelly Ecker Samson
called 911 reporting that her husband had threatened to kill her.
'There were a total of three very brief 911 calls, which in the first two the
caller disconnected.'
Cottom said that Ekcer was found in the bedroom her 10-year-old son from a
previous relationship slept in, while Samson shot himself once in the head with
a registered gun.
'Deputies did find the female victim inside the child's bedroom deceased,'
said Cottom to WISHTV.
Cottom said that Ekcer's son and an elderly couple believed to be Samson's
parents were inside the home at the time of the shooting, but were not harmed
and escorted out by police when they arrived.
'We received information from the elderly male that the female's husband
Scott Samson had retreated to the basement,' said Cottom to WISHTV.
Samson, 54, is a doctor at Union Hospital in Taure Haute and one witness told
WISHTV that guests left the wedding party because of the argument that the
newlyweds were having.
'They were having some domestic problems at the house. Within a short amount
of time guests decided it would be best if they left. Shortly after the last
guest left that's when things went terribly wrong,' said Cottom.
When police arrived, they discovered the basement locked and so had to call
out the Terre Haute Police Department Special Response Team.
'The remote camera was able to determine he was in the basement,
unresponsive,' said Cottom.
Friends such as Brooke Llewellyn took to Facebook to express their grief at
the loss of their friend.
'Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine on this day that our time as
friends would be cut so short,' wrote Brooke.
'You will forever be remembered by many as the most outgoing and energetic
woman'