Former wife says she hadn't seen victim for weeks

A 36-year-old man was found shot to death early Thursday in a home he was renting at the intersection of Stephanie Way and Wildhorse Lane.

The man was identified as Benjamin Oxley, a rain gutter sales and installation specialist who was renting the home at 2800 Wildhorse.

Patrol cars cordoned off the block between Stephanie Way and Melborn in the quiet Johnson Lane neighborhood Thursday morning as officials from the Washoe County Crime Lab assisted with the investigation.

Few details about the incident were released Thursday afternoon, but authorities classified the shooting as a homicide.

Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Jim Halsey said a call was placed to 911 at 3:20 a.m., and when deputies arrived, Oxley was dead.

He said although no one had been arrested, authorities were confident the shooting was "not just a random act."

He could not release other details of the investigation.

Oxley's ex-wife, Dawn, said Thursday she was informed of the shooting "when the sheriff's office showed up at my door."

"They won't tell me anything other than what was already reported," she said.

Oxley, who lives in Gardnerville, said she hadn't seen her ex-husband for a couple of weeks. Their only contact was to arrange visitation of their 6-year-old daughter.

"I try to avoid him," she said. "He's my ex-husband and we didn't have a wonderful life together."

They met in 1997, married in 1999 and divorced in 2004, she said.

Oxley said their daughter was with her stepmother and as far as she knew, the little girl had been told about her father's death.

"I am assuming she was there when it happened. I guess she knows. She was at the sheriff's department and said, 'My daddy died.' Who tells a 6-year-old her daddy died? I just don't get it," she said.

Halsey said the victim did not have a criminal record, but was contacted in a June 2007 domestic battery investigation involving his former wife.

According to the report, the incident was classified as a mutual domestic battery.

No charges were filed and both parties agreed to leave each other alone.

According to the Douglas County assessor's database, the home is owned by Jeremy and Amy Malekos. Jeremy Malekos is director of student ministries at Carson Valley Christian located about a half-mile from the residence.