Victim had filed order of protection; Fleming: Husband had abused her

Editor’s note: This story was originally published Sept. 13, 2005

Peggy Fleming, who was shot to death by her ex-husband who later killed himself in Lebanon last week, had filed an emergency order of protection on Nov. 15 saying Donald Fleming threatened to kill her and her mother.

Peggy Fleming’s mother, Dorothy Watson, also was shot by Donald Fleming on Thursday night. Watson, 79, remained in critical but stable condition Monday, police said.

In her request for the emergency order of protection, Peggy Fleming said, “I never touched him one single time. He’s the one that has abused me in the past.

“Even his children agree with me leaving him. He has slashed my tires, threatened to kill me and my mother ... He has purchased surveillance equipment and constantly harasses me.”

On June 29, Peggy Fleming asked that the emergency order be vacated.

Lebanon Police Chief Douglas Lebert has said Peggy Fleming went to the Lebanon Police Department on Sept. 5 to report that Don Fleming was stalking her in St. Louis, where she had found an apartment.

“We told her to report it to the St. Louis Police Department and we also told her how to go about getting an order of protection,” Lebert said.

Lebert was not sure whether Fleming followed the advice.

Peggy Fleming, 47, was at the couple’s former home at 46 Harmon Drive in Lebanon Thursday getting some of her belongings out the house, police said.

When Donald Fleming, 63, learned his wife was at the house, he went there and apparently snapped, Lebert said.

He shot Watson multiple times, fatally wounded his ex-wife, Peggy Fleming, and then took is own life as police approached him, Lebert said.

A caller reported the gunshots at the Fleming home to the Lebanon Police Department at 9:19 p.m. Thursday.

Two minutes later, when police arrived at 26 Harmon Drive, where the couple lived while they were married, they saw Don Fleming walking around the house with a gun in his hand. They heard one shot while they were waiting for assistance from police from Mascoutah and Shiloh.

Lebert said it appears that Fleming fired one round into the floor, reloaded his shotgun, then discharged a second round into the floor that ricocheted and struck Peggy Fleming in the neck.

“We don’t believe that was the fatal shot,” Lebert said.

“Fleming then pulled out a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol and shot his mother-in-law several times, and went outside and smoked a cigarette. Then Fleming went back inside and shot Peggy Fleming again,” Lebert said.

Police believe the second bullet wound Peggy Fleming took was the fatal shot. At that point, the other officers arrived, and Donald Fleming shot himself as police entered the home, Lebert said.

This story was originally published May 25, 2018 at 10:52 AM with the headline "Victim had filed order of protection; Fleming: Husband had abused her."