CANDLER (AP) ó A woman killed last week in a North Carolina home where she rented a room had planned to move out this month and resume work as a truck driver, a relative said.
The sister of Divina Gracia Agulto, 44, said the woman had been renting the room since 2005, the Asheville Citizen-Times reported Monday.
Agultoís body was found Thursday with that of Angie Heatwole, 49, in Heatwoleís home in Candler. A third victim identified as Lesley Curtis Moore Keogh, 43, was found on the porch of a home next door.
Police said Agulto and Keogh were killed by blows to the head. An autopsy was planned to determine how Angie Heatwole died.
Police said Richard Heatwole was the suspect in the killings that stemmed from a divorce dispute. They say Heatwole fled the area with his two children and killed himself at a cousinís house about 100 miles away near Taylorsville.
The womenís bodies were found in the Heatwoleís home. The children ó Hailey, 10, and Hayes, 6 ó werenít injured and authorities returned them to a relative.
Richard and Angie Heatwole had a bitter divorce and fought in court over property division, authorities said. Angie Heatwole had gone to the home where she was killed to pick up the two children and take the house keys. The newspaper said a judge ordered Heatwole out of the dwelling.
Relatives asked police to check on Angie Heatwole after she went to the house.
Agultoís sister, Eliza Mitchell, told the Citizen-Times that Agulto had moved to the Asheville area from the Bronx, N.Y., and rented a room in the Heatwole home.
ěI really donít know exactly what happened in that house, but I really think that she was trying to help those kids,î Mitchell said of her sister.
Agulto had been a truck driver but took two months off because of an illness. Her sister said she planned to move out of Heatwoleís home Jan. 12 to start training to resume driving.