A Shawnee man who remains jailed on first-degree murder complaint for his wife’s shooting death was arrested for domestic violence in June and was to avoid contact with his wife as a provision for bond in that case, court documents reveal.
Edwin Leroy Scoby, 48, remains jailed without possibility of bail at the Pottawatomie County Public Safety Center in connection with the shooting death of his wife, Nina (Johnson) Scoby, 48.
She died Tuesday of a gunshot wound to the head and the manner of death was homicide, the state medical examiner ruled. The case remains under investigation by Shawnee police and will be referred to the district attorney’s office for consideration of formal charges.
Shawnee Police Lt. Russell Frantz said an apparent domestic-related incident led to the shooting about 3 a.m. Tuesday in the bedroom of the couple’s home, 2525 N. Park. The couple had lived there about four months and had been married less than six months.
The couple’s marriage license, filed Feb. 14 in Pottawatomie County, shows Nina Scoby was from the Ulysses, Kan., area.
Tammy Lane-Reese, a friend of Nina Scoby’s who lives in Ulysses, Kan., told the News-Star Thursday she was shocked to read online news about Nina’s death. Lane-Reese said they hadn’t talked to each other in quite a while but they kept in touch by text message, with the latest being a few weeks ago.
She said her friend had previously lived in both Ulysses, Kan., and Liberal, Kan., and thinks her children still reside in Kansas.
“She loved her children and she had many friends,” Lane-Reese said, recalling the custom charms Nina Scoby would buy to have her children’s nicknames or birthstones put on them. “She was always thinking about her kids.”
A Shawnee woman who is an acquaintance of the couple said Edwin Scoby moved to Shawnee from Kansas with Nina in February and they married at the courthouse. The woman said she was shocked to hear what happened, even though she said the couple “fussed and fought all the time.”
“Nina was unhappy but she loved him,” the woman said. “It breaks my heart to know she’s gone.”
Records show Tuesday wasn’t the first time police responded to a domestic disturbance at the couple’s home, and an arrest affidavit alleges Edwin Scoby has a history of domestic violence.
According to Pottawatomie County court records, Edwin Scoby was charged June 25 with misdemeanor domestic abuse/assault and battery and was accused of unlawfully striking his wife by hitting her in the head and face with force and violence June 17.
“Nina stated that Edwin is very abusive toward her and that there is a history of violence in their relationship,” the June 17 police report reads. Edwin Scoby was arrested that day and spent five days in jail before posting a $3,000 bond in the case.
Court documents show that as a provision for bond, he was to have no contact with his wife, and the police report shows Nina Scoby was provided contact information for Project Safe.
It is unknown if Nina Scoby ever called Project Safe because client records are confidential. However, she never filed for an emergency protective order against her husband, according to court records.
Edwin Scoby was scheduled to appear in court for Thursday’s misdemeanor docket on the June case, but the matter was postponed until September. Edwin Scoby, who has several previous convictions on alcohol-related offenses, also has a felony DUI case pending in Pottawatomie County District Court, along with outstanding warrants from Stephens County in Oklahoma and Seward County in Kansas on similar charges.
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See related story, "Project Safe helps victims of domestic violence."
