Tuesday, March 16, 2004 | 11 a.m.
A Henderson man who was charged with murder Sunday after his wife was shot in the head told police the gun went off while he was cleaning it, according to the report filed about his arrest.
But the report also notes that the couple's daughter said he had a history of beating her mother when he was drunk.
Jesse Eugene Dennis, 54, "appeared to be very intoxicated" when police arrived at his house in the 3100 block of Blossom Glen drive near Green Valley Parkway and Warm Springs Road, according to the police report.
Police said Jesse Dennis called 911 about 12:30 p.m. Sunday and said he had shot his wife and that the shooting was accidental. He then said he and his wife had been fighting.
Police found 48-year-old Leslie Dennis on the living room floor. She had been shot in the back of her head, police said. She died at University Medical Center.
Lisa Fleming told police that her parents were fighting because her father wanted to use a credit card, but her mother had it and she wasn't home, the police report says. Leslie Dennis had spent the night at her daughter's apartment and went home around noon Sunday, Fleming told police.
Fleming told police that on Sunday afternoon she called her mother to say she was on her way over to swim in their pool. She said her mother told her that her father had a loaded gun.
Fleming told her mother she was going to call police, but Leslie Dennis told her not to bother, according to police.
When Fleming pulled up to the house moments later, the police were there and she found out her father had shot her mother, the report says.
Jesse Dennis told police he awoke about 8 a.m. and had two vodka drinks within an hour, the report says.
He said he had brought his gun into the living room in case his son-in-law came over, the police report says. The two had fought in the past and Dennis wanted to be protected if he showed up, he told police.
Jesse Dennis said he was sitting on the sofa in the living room and his wife was sitting in a chair six to eight feet away. He said he was wiping his gun with a rag "when suddenly the gun went off and he saw his wife fall to the floor and she was bleeding from the head," according to the report.
Fleming told police that "her dad has been beating her mom for years," and everytime he beat her he had been drunk, the report says.
About eight months ago, Jesse Dennis threw an ash tray at Leslie Dennis and she needed stitches for the head wound it caused, Fleming told police. She said her mother talked her out of calling the police.
About two years ago her father pointed a gun at her mother, called her names and threatened to kill her, the report says. He also pointed a gun at his daughter and told her to get out of the house, Fleming told police.
Jesse Dennis was charged with domestic battery in January 1997, according to the report.
Of the 10 homicides that occurred in Henderson last year, four were related to domestic violence, police said.
Lisa Lynn Chapman, spokeswoman for Safe Nest, a local shelter for abused women and families, said the best way to get out of a violent relationship is to get help from an organization such as Safe Nest.
Anyone associated with domestic violence can call 646-4981 for help, she said.
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