Cops Find Singer Shooter Suspect's Truck

(AP)  Investigators located the pickup truck of a military sharpshooter suspected of killing his estranged wife as she sang at a Cheyenne nightclub. An empty handgun case was inside the truck, but the man was nowhere in sight, police said Tuesday.

The search for David Munis, 36, focused Tuesday morning on a canyon area north of Laramie where the pickup was spotted late Monday, Police Lt. Jeff Schulz said.

Robin Munis, 40, had been singing with a classic-rock and country group called Ty and the Twisters at the Old Chicago early Saturday when a bullet pierced a plate glass door and hit her in the head, killing her. Police said Monday they were securing an arrest warrant for her estranged husband, charging him with homicide.

Schulz said officers would be searching the rugged terrain by foot and a Wyoming National Guard Blackhawk helicopter would assist from the air. Knowing Munis' firearms training, the hunt had searchers on edge.

Police don't know what kind of guns Munis may be armed with, but after searching his home, they assumed he had at least one high-powered rifle with him and likely the handgun and two canteens. Schulz has said the search of the home also turned up evidence connecting Munis to his wife's death, though he did not elaborate.

Munis has been a member of the Wyoming Army National Guard since 2003, was previously in the U.S. Army and was a 2001 graduate of the Army Sniper School at Fort Benning, Ga., according to the National Guard.

"Apprehending a man with that kind of sniper skill and the weaponry he has available to him is an extremely dangerous type of proposition," Schulz said.

Robin Munis had recently separated from her husband. She had complained about receiving a harassing telephone call from her husband last Friday, police Capt. Jeff Schulz said.

Schulz said investigators were speaking to David Munis' relatives in Montana and a friend at an Army base in Kentucky with who he had been in contact. Authorities didn't specify which base, but the Munises had lived within a few miles of Fort Campbell, Ky.

Robin Munis' brother, Art Werner, declined to comment on his sister's death when reached Tuesday at their parents' home in Clarksville, Tenn. He said her funeral service had not been set.

John Plaster, a sniper instructor for military and law enforcement agencies around the country and author of "The Ultimate Sniper," said graduates of the nation's military sniper schools are trained in evading capture, but he said he would be surprised if the hunt ended in a shootout.

"A guy like that, his enemy, in his mind, was his wife," Plaster said. "I don't think a guy like that would want to go out of his way to shoot at police. But if you corner him, you've got a very dangerous individual."

The sniper training in the Army and Marine Corps is rigorous and screens out in advance any potential thrill killers or people who seem to have emotional problems, he said. Instead, military sharpshooters think of their work in terms of saving the lives of their own troops on the battlefield.

Plaster said he believes that a highly trained soldier who snapped and killed a spouse would be likely to commit suicide. "All the honor of being a solider, of being devoted to country, and so on, that's gone," he said.

[cfin5]

I do not mean to disagree with Mr. Plaster, but it's far more prudent to heavily "counter-part" Munis' education. Isnt it obvious he has slipped through an unforseen crack in the screening process? That dude could pop someone from 1000 yards. Sending anybody out to look for him who has not been trained to understand this could result in unecessary casualties.....I would be very relieved to be wrong about my thoughts. Godspeed for the Authorities.

[cbs_oliver]

It may make sense to include a FBI sniper in the search party, just in case Munis won't surrender and/or threatens to shoot.

[carolrhill]

When they catch this man he needs to shot.

I bet when they find him he probably killed himself because he was not brave enough to confront her.

He is the kind that would rape a women and leave her for dead.