Sheriff: Sunday shooting was result of confrontation over domestic battery

McGauley McGauley Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Sheriff: Sunday shooting was result of confrontation over domestic battery 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

GLEN CARBON — A 46-year-old Glen Carbon man with a history of domestic violence was charged Tuesday with two counts of first-degree murder following a deadly shooting Sunday that began after a house guest witnessed him batter his wife.

Steven J. McGauley, of the 100 block of Hillcrest Drive, Glen Carbon, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of domestic battery, a Class A misdemeanor, stemming from an incident Sunday after which 43-year-old Edwardsville man Steven W. Flack was found dead.

The incident began, according to a release from the Madison County Sheriff’s Capt. T. Mike Dixon, when Flack, who was staying with McGauley and his wife, confronted McGauley after witnessing him allegedly batter his wife. A verbal confrontation turned physical, Dixon said, and ended with McGauley retrieving a firearm and shooting Flack multiple times.

The incident occurred at about 7:30 p.m. Sunday. The Madison County Sheriff’s Department, along with the Glen Carbon and Maryville police departments, responded to a call of shots fired.

When officers arrived they found Flack unresponsive in the backyard of the McGauley residence with multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead in the emergency department of Anderson Hospital at 8 p.m. Sunday, according to a release from Madison County Coroner Stephen P. Nonn.

An autopsy conducted Monday morning revealed Flack died of gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen. Routine toxicology testing for the presence of alcohol or drugs remains pending, Nonn said.

McGauley was detained at the scene and is being held without bond at the Madison County Jail.

On top of Tuesday’s domestic battery charge, McGauley has had two separate orders of protection by two different women filed against him in recent years. Neither of those women were the woman battered in Sunday’s incident.

A woman living with McGauley in August 2016 obtained an emergency order of protection against him. She claimed he came to a wedding she was attending and threatened her.

“After that, he texted me that he was going to ruin my reception and wedding,” she said in an affidavit. “We lived with him for months, and every day, there was constant alcoholic abuse and constant threats to me,” she said.

The petitioner said McGauley kept several guns in the house: a .38 special, two .22-caliber long rifles, a .45-caliber carbine and a 40-gauge shotgun.

At the time of the shooting, McGauley was assigned to domestic violence accountability court. He was accused of misdemeanor domestic battery for allegedly hitting a woman in the in the face with the back of his hand. He was on court supervision and had an Oct. 12 court date.

Another woman filed for an order of protection against McGauley on Nov. 12, 2007. She also said she had friction with him when he was drinking. She said in an affidavit that she tried to take her children and leave, but he barred the door. He also allegedly let the air out of the tires of her car.

She said he lunged at her and her children several times. However, a judge approved the petitioner’s motion to dismiss the order.