David Shackelford, Munson's uncle, said before a Nov. 1, 2007, assault charge against her former boyfriend, she never said anything was wrong. After that, she confided in him that the abuse had been going on for awhile.

"He beat her up pretty bad that time," Shackelford said. "We were very close and we talked a lot, but I wish she would've explained to us earlier what had been happening. When he came around, he always acted like he was such a nice guy and so good to her."

Munson filed domestic violence claims against Pryor in September 2000, March 2002 and August 2002, in addition to the Nov. 1, 2007, charges, according to court records.

Six days before Christmas 2007, Smithsburg police officer Christopher Shane Nicholson, 25, was killed in a shoot-out while investigating the fatal stabbing of Munson, 31, earlier that evening.

The suspect in both killings, Douglas W. Pryor , 29, of Smithsburg, is Munson's former boyfriend and the father of her two children.

Munson, of Halfway, was a 1995 graduate of Berkeley Springs High School and former homecoming queen. She had filed a petition Dec. 4, 2007, for child support against Pryor, who according to court records had been ordered in November to avoid contact with his former girlfriend.

Pryor had recent charges of second-degree assault and malicious destruction pending at the time of Munson's and Nicholson's deaths.

Nicholson tracked Pryor to his home on Welty Church Road after Pryor fled Munson's apartment in Halfway, according to the Washington County Sheriff's Office. Nicholson was shot in a driveway while awaiting assistance.

Police eventually found Pryor in Ringold. Pryor was wounded during an exchange of gunfire and was taken to Washington County Hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.

In February, Pryor was charged with first-degree murder and other charges in connection with the deaths of Munson and Nicholson. He is awaiting trial and Washington County prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty.

Nicholson's aunt, Kimmy Armstrong, and Munson's sister, Tori Landers, lobbied against a repeal of the Maryland's death penalty during the General Assembly this year.

Shackelford, who works at a K-Mart store close to his niece's apartment, said he was the first family member to arrive at the scene.

"When my sister called and told me Alison had been murdered, I knew right away who did it," he said.

Munson's and Pryor's children are being cared for by their paternal grandparents, Donald and Joellen Pryor, who initially were granted custody, and their paternal uncle and aunt, Troy and Geri Pryor. Custody issues involving the Pryors and Jacqueline Shackelford Smith, Munson's mother, and her stepfather, Steven Smith, are ongoing, according to the office of Washington County Circuit Court family law master Daniel P. Dwyer.

Reached by phone, Donald Pryor said he did not want to comment on his son's situation or ongoing custody issues.

Nicholson, single with no children, graduated from the police academy in July 2006. Smithsburg has three full-time officers and he was the only one on duty the night of Munson's murder.

"Chris was a nice young man," Washington County Sheriff Douglas Mullendore told officer.com after the shooting. "He was proud to be a police officer. It's all he wanted to do."

Originally from Winchester, Va., Munson worked as a dental hygienist assistant at Oral and Facial Surgery in Hagerstown.

"She was just a wonderful person, a loving person, a loving, caring mother and granddaughter," said her grandmother Alice Shackelford. "I don't know what else to say."