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LEHI - David and Kristy Ragsdale were going through a contentious divorce, but in court last month they agreed to stay away from each other. Instead, the Draper man allegedly shot his wife to death here Sunday morning as she arrived at a local LDS church to attend services on her 30th birthday.
Kristy Ragsdale pulled into the crowded parking lot at 1691 E. 900 North around 11 a.m., planning to attend services with an unidentified acquaintance, said Sgt. Jeff Swenson, a police spokesman.
About that time, the woman's estranged husband, David L. Ragsdale, drove up in a silver BMW, police said. The 35-year-old man allegedly then stepped out of the car and shot the mother of two multiple times with a 9 mm handgun.
"There was no confrontation, no nothing," Swenson said. "He suddenly opened fire."
David Ragsdale got back into his car and drove to the nearby Traverse Mountain area, police said.
Lisa Dean was attending the service with her husband and two children. She said scriptures were suddenly halted by a church counselor, who told them someone had been shot in the parking lot.
"We said a prayer for the family and the children. People just sat there and cried," Dean said. "You don't really ever hear of this kind of thing happening in Lehi or in Utah. It just doesn't feel right."
Darrell Berry, first counselor in Lehi's 17th ward, had just finished a bishopric meeting at the time of the shooting. He said he rushed to aid another man giving Kristy Ragsdale CPR in the parking lot, which was littered with spent bullet casings.
"I didn't think we were going to have any success based on her wounds," he said.
When police and paramedics arrived on scene around 11:10 a.m., Kristy Ragsdale, who had just turned 30 years old that morning, was pronounced dead.
Church officials then ordered people to leave the church as police began their investigation. Most people were forced to leave without their vehicles, as dozens of automobiles were quickly sealed inside the crime scene.
Police combed over the snow- and iced-covered parking lot with metal detectors searching for bullet casings. Other investigators climbed fire truck ladders and shot photographs from the air.
David Ragsdale called the police station around noon and spoke to police Chief Chad Smith, who convinced the man to turn himself in, Swenson said.
"It's hard to comprehend what happened here today," the officer said.
Police continued to interview David Ragsdale into the evening, and he had not been charged in connection with the shooting. It is likely he will be charged with murder this week, Swenson said.
Authorities had responded to the Ragsdales' home for reports of domestic violence in the past, but nothing physical against Kristy Ragsdale or their two young sons, Swenson said. The children were at David Ragsdale's Draper residence at the time of the shooting.
Court records show that Kristy Ragsdale requested a temporary protective order from her husband on Dec. 4. David Ragsdale was served with the order on Dec. 7.
In District Court nearly two weeks later, Kristy and David Ragsdale entered into a mutual restraining order agreement as part of divorce proceedings, court records show. The temporary order was then dismissed.
Neighbors said police were at the home the day David Ragsdale moved away.
"We loved Kristy; she was easy to love," said Kevin Malone, who lives near the Ragsdale home. "Kristy was very sociable . . . and very confident in herself."
David Ragsdale worked at Investools, an investment education business in Draper, Malone said.
Kristy Ragsdale sang often in her ward and had "a beautiful voice," said fellow churchgoer Paul Baird, who was in the building at the time of the shooting.
"It has been a heart-wrenching day," he said.
Peggy Lowe, who lives next door to the church, said she remembers when the area was a quiet rural affair. Her neighborhood is new, and many of the houses have yet to be occupied. The church itself is only a year old.
Now the shooting has left that neighborhood shaken, Lowe said.
"It's sad that these kids lost two parents," she said.
The LDS Church declined to comment on the incident, said spokesman Scott Trotter.
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* DONALD W. MEYERS and ERIN ALBERTY contributed to this report.