BAY MINETTE, Alabama — Mark Anthony Milstid apparently set fire to his Perdido trailer early Sunday morning, drove to a BP gas station where his wife was employed as a clerk, then shot her dead before turning a sawed-off shotgun on himself, according to a preliminary investigation conducted by the Bay Minette Police Department.

“It appears the burning of the trailer coincided with the homicide,” according to Police Chief Michael Rowland. “It appears he was not planning to go back home.”

Linda Milstid pressed a panic button when her husband came through the door of the station on the east side of State Highway 59 north of Bay Minette. He allegedly shot her twice before shooting himself in the chest. She died at the scene. He was pronounced dead upon arrival at North Baldwin Infirmary, Rowland said.

The two had a history of domestic problems, Rowland said, and she had moved earlier to her parents’ residence in Bay Minette.

An autopsy was scheduled late Monday. Investigators are continuing to comb the crime scene, Rowland said Monday.