Police officer may have been trying return to prior home when he committed suicide

A former Samson police officer who killed his wife had a history of failed marriages and domestic issues. He may have also been trying to return to his family’s home when he died.

45-year old James Chadwick Green killed himself Sunday, one day after shooting 33-year old Sarah Cooper to death at the couple’s home.

For more than a day, Green had zigzagged around south Alabama, until Montgomery County deputies received a tip and pursued Green down Interstate 65. When they approached his pickup, he committed suicide.

Why he chose to go to Montgomery isn’t known, though he once lived there and there is speculation he intended to return to the place family members still live.

James Chadwick Green worked in law enforcement for several years; his last job as a Samson police officer.. Disgruntled, sources say, he abruptly resigned several weeks ago.

He was also on the verge of a third divorce and he and Cooper had been arguing prior to her murder. Her children, who were in the home, called 911.

While there is no evidence of domestic abuse in his first two marriages, documents obtained by WTVY indicate there was marital turbulence.

His first wife, Ashley, claimed “there was constant arguing and bickering.”

Green’s second failed marriage produced a child. By the time the couple divorced, James Chadwick Green had become a police officer working in Greenville, Alabama.

Law enforcement sources say Green and Sarah Coopers domestic strife may have become worse after he quit his job.

Officers responded to complaints about their issues but didn’t make arrests and there’s no indication that Cooper or Green wanted to pursue charges against the other.

Cooper’s three children are safe and now living with relatives.