Opryland balcony deaths classified murder-suicide
Patty
By SHEILA BURKE and KATHY CARLSON
The Tennessean
Metro police think a woman found dead Friday night at Opryland Hotel was pushed
from a fifth-story balcony by her husband, who then fell to his own death from
the same terrace.
Police identified the victims as Misty Norman, 26, and Torre Norman, 30, of
Hopkinsville, Ky.
''At this point the Police Department's investigation indicates this was a
murder-suicide, pending a final report from the medical examiner,'' Metro police
spokesman Don Aaron said yesterday.
When police get autopsy reports, Aaron said, police may classify Torre Norman's
death as accidental, but investigators are staying with the theory of
murder-suicide for now.
''It's clear to us that he killed her,'' Aaron said, but police still are trying
to determine how Torre Norman went over the balcony.
Investigators were called to the grisly scene in the Cascades atrium of the
hotel shortly after 9 p.m. Friday. When they arrived, Misty Norman lay dead on a
concrete aggregate public walkway in the southwest corner of the vaulted,
sprawling atrium, which contains lush greenery, a waterfall and a restaurant.
Torre Norman also lay on the pathway, critically injured. He was taken to
Skyline Medical Center, where he later died.
Police said relatives told detectives that the two had a history of domestic
problems, and Misty Norman called family members from the hotel Friday and said
she and her husband were having problems. Aaron said he wasn't sure whether the
two had children.
Investigators found alcohol at the scene. They also found evidence of a struggle
inside the room, Aaron said. However, they do not think the two were fighting
and accidentally fell.
''We don't believe there was a scuffle that went from the room out to the
balcony and they just happened to go over,'' Aaron said.
The couple checked into the hotel Friday about 2:30 p.m. and were given a
second-story room in the Cascades atrium. They complained, Aaron said, and were
given another room on the same floor a few minutes later.
After moving to the second room, Aaron said, Misty Norman called the hotel front
desk and asked for a room on a higher floor. The two were moved to the fifth
floor about 3 p.m., he said. The Cascades has six stories of hotel rooms, but
the balconies go only as high as the fifth floor.
Investigators weren't sure why the couple came to Nashville.
Before the falls, there had been no signs of any trouble in the Normans' room,
Opryland spokesman Paul Lindsley said yesterday.
The deaths were ''very unfortunate,'' he said, ''and we're doing everything to
cooperate with the police.''