Husband charged with murder of wife

The Elmore Sheriff’s Office found a husband and wife shot early Saturday morning.

Zachary Lee, 34, of Tallassee, called 911 and spoke with operators.

“He tells dispatch that he shot his wife, she shot first,” Elmore County Sheriff's Office investigator Sgt. William Coffel said. “They ask him to render aid. He tells them he is on the back porch. ‘I’m not going back in,’ (he told dispatchers.)”

When deputies arrived to the 80000 block of Tallassee Highway, they found Lee laying on his back on the back porch with a gunshot wound to one leg and his wife, Bethany Lee, deceased inside.

“He was unresponsive initially,” Coffel said. “They get him up and talking and realize one leg has a gunshot wound that appears to be from a .22 caliber ratshot.”

Inside the backdoor near the bed, Coffel said