KY woman who killed husband, sister struggled with mental health issues

A Kentucky police officer killed her husband and sister before being shot last week by her brother, who suffered from mental health issues, according to a court filing nearly 15 years ago.

The document was part of a divorce lawsuit that Angela Gosser filed against her husband, Larry V. Gosser, in October 2009.

In mid-December 2009, Larry Gosser’s attorney filed a motion to give Gosser custody of the couple’s 14-year-old son, alleging that Angela Gosser had hosted a “drinking party” with minors present.

On another occasion, her son said Angela Gosser kept slumping over the steering wheel while driving on the Louie B. Nunn Cumberland Parkway, the lawsuit says.

Larry Gosser said in an affidavit that he believes his estranged wife’s “mental condition is deteriorating as it has in the past.”

“Angela suffers from clinically diagnosed mental health disorders” and was hospitalized for suicidal thoughts and attempts, the motion and affidavit said.

It was not clear from the documents what conditions Gosser allegedly had.

The application stated that Angela Gosser was prescribed medication for her symptoms, but at times she did not use it correctly.

A judge temporarily granted Larry Gosser sole custody, but the couple later reconciled and gave up their divorce in 2010, court records show.

Since then, there have been no public court proceedings in Pulaski County, where the couple lived, that would indicate Angela Gosser’s alleged mental health problems.

Police believe Angela Gosser, 50, shot Larry Gosser, 73, a retired Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources officer, on May 3 at her remote log home in Pulaski County, near the Russell County line.

Her son found Larry Gosser’s body, said Pulaski County Sheriff Bobby Jones.

When officers arrived, the couple’s son said he suspected his mother had shot his father and that she might be heading to Russell County to hurt other people, Jones said.

Jones’ office alerted the Russell County Sheriff’s Office and Kentucky State Police to look for a Ford F-150 pickup believed to be driven by Angela Gosser.

Before police could locate her, however, officers found Gosser’s sister, 57-year-old Jennifer Wilson, dead in her Toyota Camry on Hammond Road in Russell County.

The investigation revealed that Gosser encountered her sister on the street and fired into her car multiple times, hitting Wilson in the head, state police said.

Gosser then went to the home of her brother, Darryl Wilson, 58, near Jamestown and forced his way in, state police said.

The two apparently exchanged gunfire, leaving Angela Gosser dead and Wilson critically injured, state police said.

No information was available this week about Wilson’s condition.

Family members of Larry and Angela Gosser declined to comment on the case.

Jones, the Pulaski County sheriff, said investigators there were investigating the motive for the shooting. Trooper Jonathan Houk, spokesman for the Kentucky State Police, said there is information about a motive in the Russell County shootings.

Larry and Angela Gosser married in February 1994 and their son was born later that year, according to court records.

Angela Gosser filed a domestic violence lawsuit in October 2009 and filed for divorce shortly thereafter.

She said in the domestic violence petition that Larry Gosser said he would kill her after she confronted him about illegally confiscating guns from hunters as a state agent.

Gosser often played with guns and said he would shoot her with a shotgun because she couldn’t be traced, Angela Gosser said in the petition.

“I finally found the courage and strength to leave. I am terrified,” Angela Gosser wrote in the petition.

The following month, in November 2009, the couple’s daughter said in her own domestic violence petition that Angela Gosser had threatened to hurt her.

The petition said the parents were divorcing and that Angela Gosser had told her daughter, “If I tell what she did, I will pay.”

According to court records, a judge ultimately rejected the daughter’s request. A judge also dismissed Angela Gosser’s petition against her husband in early November 2009.

The following month, Larry Gosser’s attorney filed a motion to give him sole custody of the couple’s then 14-year-old son.

A judge had initially granted temporary custody to Angela Gosser after the divorce was filed, but Larry Gosser’s motion said circumstances had changed “such that the child’s current environment seriously endangers his physical, mental, moral and emotional health.”

The application alleged that Angela Gosser had hosted an alcoholic party in the presence of miners and was apparently driving while impaired.

The teenager was “visibly shaken and upset” after the driving accident, Larry Gosser said in an affidavit.

The motion said Angela Gosser had a history of abusing prescription medications.

A judge denied the divorce in May 2010 after Larry Gosser’s attorney filed a motion saying the couple had reconciled, court records show.

Cases in which three or more family members are shot do not occur often in Kentucky, but there have been several other examples.

In February 2018, for example, a Johnson County man struggling with drug addiction shot his parents, his girlfriend and her mother before killing himself, police said.

In February 2015, police said an underage boy from Corbin shot and killed three family members before fleeing to Baltimore, where he was killed in a shootout with police.

And in January 2017, a Whitley County woman was charged with killing her husband and two daughters, whose bodies were found in their beds.

Courtney Taylor, now 48, pleaded guilty and is serving a life sentence without parole, according to court records and the Kentucky Department of Corrections.

About the family

Jennifer Wilson was a homemaker and, according to her obituary, is survived by a daughter, two sons, her brother and two grandchildren.

According to his obituary, Larry Gosser is survived by three daughters, two sons and several other family members, including twelve grandchildren.

Gosser received the Shikar Safari International Officer of the Year award during his time with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. He helped lead the department’s K-9 program and was instrumental in the reintroduction and repopulation of elk and wild turkeys in eastern Kentucky, according to his obituary.

“He was an avid fisherman and hunter who loved nature, loved his animals and, most importantly, spent time with his family and friends,” his obituary reads.

Angela Gosser’s obituary states that she was a homemaker and is survived by a daughter, her brother and four grandchildren.

Her son was not listed among the survivors in the obituary.

If you or someone you know is suffering from mental health issues, several agencies offer help, including the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, which has a directory of crisis service providers, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.