Police say 2 men may have spoken by phone shortly before Monday’s suspected murder-suicide
Jealousy over an ex-girlfriend dating another man may have spurred an argument that ultimately led to Monday’s suspected murder-suicide in Ferndale, police say.
After interviewing people who knew 44-year-old Robert Beaugez and 44-year-old James Hayes, the Ferndale Police Department determined that Beaugez was in a dating relationship with a woman who had previously dated Hayes, according to information emailed to The Bellingham Herald by Lt. John VanderYacht on Wednesday, Sept. 7.
Police believe Hayes was upset about the situation, and the two men likely spoke by phone before Hayes went to Beaugez’s home in the 2000 block of Grandview Road.
At approximately 12:19 a.m. Monday, Sept. 5, police were called to Beaugez’s home for the report of a shooting, according to information previously emailed to The Herald by city spokesperson Riley Sweeney.
Police arrived to find Hayes and Beaugez dead from apparent gunshot wounds, Sweeney reported. A witness identified both men to police.
The witness reported that Hayes arrived at Beaugez’s home and kicked open the door, according to Sweeney. After a short fight between the two, Hayes shot Beaugez, Sweeney reported. Hayes then shot himself, according to witness reports.
Medical personnel pronounced both men deceased at the scene.
“This is an active homicide investigation, and more details will be released as they become available to the public,” VanderYacht’s email on Wednesday read.
Whatcom County Superior Court records show Hayes petitioned for and was granted his right to possess a firearm in 2019 after he was convicted in Whatcom County of conspiracy to commit second-degree assault with a deadly weapon and unlawful possession of a firearm by a juvenile. Those convictions stemmed from a 1995 incident when Hayes was 17.
LexisNexis records show Hayes most recently lived in Bellingham, but he had also resided elsewhere in Whatcom County.
Beaugez’s death represents the third suspected murder in Ferndale so far this year after the city saw only one in the previous 10 years (the 2017 death of 65-year-old William Herman Koop Jr.), according to Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs crime data.
