William told police his wife Suzy had fallen down the stairs, but the truth was unthinkable...
When paramedics arrived at the Gunter family’s luxury home, Suzy Gunter was barely breathing as she lay unconscious at the bottom of a flight of stairs.
Her sobbing husband William was cradling her in his arms – they were both covered in blood.
William said Suzy had fallen and he’d found his motionless wife in the hallway.
Suzy, 55, was rushed to hospital, but her head injuries were severe, and she died later that day.
Straight away police were suspicious. William was the one who’d found his wife, but it was neighbours who had rung paramedics.
With nine large lacerations to the head, it looked like Suzy had collided with more than just stairs on that fateful day.
Money trouble
William and Suzy had been married for over 30 years and lived together in the affluent area of Town and Country, a suburb of St Louis, Missouri.
They had two grown-up daughters and were known in the community as a fun couple who were very much in love.
William Lynn Gunter, then 59, was a vice president at an insurance firm that specialised in insurance, investment and asset management.
He’d recently lost a civil case that had accused him of not sharing commission profits with his clients at a former company before he’d moved on.
He’d been ordered to pay back £105,000 – which was perhaps playing more on his mind than he was letting on.
Former cheerleader Suzanne ‘Suzy’ Ball Gunter was always smiling with a sparkle in her eyes.
She worked as a client delivery manager for the document management corporation Xerox, and volunteered for the local community.
She loved dogs, and playing tennis, and looked a lot younger than 55. The Gunter’s made a perfect couple – so when tragedy struck, it seemed unfair that it had happened to them.
On the afternoon of March 18, 2013, the emergency services were called to their home, where they found Suzy fighting for her life in William’s arms.
He was crying hysterically as he cradled his bleeding wife in the hallway.
Suzy had nine large gashes on her head and a broken wrist. Her laptop lay on the floor nearby, there was a bloody handprint on the hallway wall and bloody footprints at the scene.
William was so upset he couldn’t even ride in the ambulance with Suzy, so neighbours drove him behind. Shortly after she arrived in hospital, Suzy was pronounced dead.
At first it looked like a freak accident. William told police he’d been in the family room when he’d heard Suzy yell at the dog.
He’d then heard a thump and found his severely injured wife at the bottom of the tiled stairs.
He’d phoned neighbours for help and it was them who’d called 911. It set alarm bells off – he’d wasted valuable time.
When police investigated further, they found out the Gunter’s weren’t quite the picture-perfect couple everyone thought they were.
They had more than £600,000 between savings and life insurance benefits – but Suzy was in control of it all. There was also a rumour that William was having an affair.
No one knew whether Suzy had any idea that her husband had a girlfriend – but she was able to tell the coroner something from beyond the grave.
Suzy’s autopsy revealed that her injuries weren’t consistent with falling down the stairs. It looked like she’d been hit repeatedly around the head with a heavy object.
The likely weapon was Suzy’s own laptop that lay in the hallway. Had the couple fought?
Did William lash out – or had he taken her by surprise with a blow to the head? No one would know for sure.
Two days after his wife’s death, William was charged with first degree murder and held without bail.
At first he denied everything and the trial was set for November 2013, but in October, William pleaded guilty to second degree murder at the St Louis County Circuit Court as part of a deal.
He admitted to murdering Suzy by beating her to death with a laptop, then trying to make it look like an accident.
His defence said he’d taken the deal so his daughters didn’t have to suffer the ordeal of a trial.
Closure
The prosecution insisted William was having an affair and Suzy was simply getting in his way.
"He had a girlfriend and he had money problems," they said. "And she (his wife) had all the money."
They said he’d repeatedly struck his wife on the head with her own laptop, then tried to make out it had been an accident.
It was an undeserving end for a woman who had devoted 30 years to being his wife.
William, now 61, was sentenced to 30 years in prison – he’ll be eligible for parole in 11 years.
"We miss her so much," said Suzy’s brother Steve. "We’re glad we have closure now.
"The guilty plea spared us all the details at a trial – the horrible forensics that would have come out."
The killing shocked the small quiet community of Town and Country. It was the first murder investigation in almost 10 years – and it left the locals shaken.
The Gunters had seemed happy. They had no idea that a man they’d wave to in the street was actually a man capable of murder.
