Baskerville Holmes Dies In Apparent Murder-Suicide

Baskerville Holmes, who took his name from a Sherlock Holmes story and played for Memphis in the 1985 Final Four, was found shot to death with his girlfriend in an apparent murder-suicide, police said.

A television station reported that Holmes called police and said he accidentally shot his girlfriend, then shot himself a few minutes later. Police would not confirm that report.

Holmes, 32, and Tanya Franklin were dead when police arrived at their home Tuesday morning. Lt. Richard True of the Memphis Police Department said they were investigating the deaths as a murder-suicide.

“I’m in a state of shock,” said Dana Kirk, who coached Holmes at Memphis. “It’s completely set me back a step or two.”

WHBQ-TV said Holmes placed the 911 call to police at 6:35 a.m. CST before going into a back bedroom and shooting himself. Three children were at home at the time of the shooting.