Cops: Man used Facebook to cover up wife’s killing

Family and friends were grappling Wednesday with the loss of a wife and mother of two young children after Orlando police say her husband killed her and tried to cover up the homicide by posting to her Facebook page.

George Joseph McShane, 42, was found in his sport utility vehicle with the engine running in a garage at his home about 12:50 p.m. Tuesday, according to an arrest report. Police say he was attempting to kill himself.

Family members had been worried about Kristen McShane after she stopped answering calls and text messages. A relative, who wasn’t named, told police she feared McShane was going to kill himself and that his wife, Kristen McShane, was dead.

“It just wasn’t like her to not answer calls. We’re a tight-knit family and we’re always gabbing. I just can’t believe this really happened. It’s heartbreaking,” said her cousin, Peter Mattias Ivester.

Officers got George McShane out of his white Hyundai Santa Fe and then found Kristen McShane dead in the couple’s bed.

Her body had been covered with a comforter, according to the report.

Ivester, 25, said Kristen McShane was a loving person who instantly lit up a room. She was sharp as a tack and loved her two children, ages 4 and 6.

“She was a walking encyclopedia. It was amazing how many little facts she knew about everything,” said Ivester, who lives in Maryland.

He said she was beautiful and “a bottle of sunshine” who always tried to help others.

McShane told detectives he logged into his wife’s Facebook account and posted on her wall that she had dropped her phone in a toilet so that relatives wouldn’t worry if she didn’t respond, the report states.

McShane faces charges of domestic battery by strangulation and second-degree murder.