Mark Passanisi

Debbie Passanisi and Mark Passanisi identified in San Francisco area murder suicide

Petaluma police identified the man and woman found dead Thursday morning at a Petaluma home in the San Francisco area as Debbie Ann Passanisi, killed by her husband, Mark Richard Passanisi, in a murder suicide.

Debbie, 54, had been shot more than once and was found in a common area of the home in the 1600 Block of Shenandoah Court, Petaluma police said.

Mark, 56, died of a single gunshot wound and was found in a bedroom with a pistol near his body.

“It’s not a case where they decided together to do this,” Lt. Ed Crosby said to press, noting how Debbie was struck more than once by gunfire and in another part of the house.

“There was no forced entry, no sign of a robbery. There is no evidence at this point to suggest any third party was responsible for this,” Crosby said.

The couple was found Thursday morning by their daughter, calling police at 9:53 a.m.

The couple had two adult daughters and a son who live in Petaluma and the Bay Area, and a large extended family throughout Sonoma County and the greater Bay Area.

Police had no record of problems at the house, off Sonoma Mountain Parkway and Rainier Avenue.

“Of course there may have been problems between them that we don’t know about,” Crosby said.

Autopsies on the couple are scheduled for next week. Anyone with information on the deaths is asked to contact the Petaluma Police Department at (707) 778-4325.

Mark Passanisi
Mark Passanisi

8 Comments

  1. What’s a common area of the house?.was it on the toilet?

    1. How about ‘common area’? Living room, dinning room…think

  2. Petaluma is 50 miles from SF. Article makes it sound as if Petaluma is part of SF?

  3. Wow this blows me away.i worked with mark off and on since 2014.we had a good relationship and worked well on electrical projects.I do know he had a serious accident some years ago and had serious head trauma in a motorcycle accident.But even when he wasn’t at his best he never indicated the actions that followed.in fact I talked to him maybe two week before this horrible set of event took place.His wife seemed like a lovely woman.Rip both of you so sad for the family that are terrific people.

    1. I too worked with Mark. He was verbally abusive and scary at times. I reported him to HR and he was fired. He scared me.

    2. I too worked with Mark. He was verbally abusive and was fired for threatening me. This is very sad.

  4. His poor wife. This man was unhinged, tightly wound and scary. It was only a matter of time. I don’t buy the brain damage excuse. He was literally psychotic.

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