Man shoots girlfriend, then himself

CONCH KEY, Fla. (AP) -- A Florida Keys couple is dead after detectives say the man apparently shot his girlfriend and then himself.

The Monroe County Sheriff's Office reports that a friend of the couple found them dead Friday night, and neighbors had heard gunshots from the Conch Key trailer earlier that evening.

Detectives say 55-year-old Christine Petros had told her boyfriend and business partner, 62-year-old Robert Babic, to move out. Detectives believe she was helping him remove clothes from a closet when he shot her in the back of the head with a .357 caliber revolver. He then turned the gun on himself.

Autopsies were scheduled for Saturday.

The couple had lived together for several years and owned a Key Largo sign business called Sign Guyz.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)