DEA AGENT ON THE LAM KILLS SELF

Tony Bailey, suspected of slaying his ex-girlfriend, commits suicide while
being chased by police. He was on his way to see his former wife.

A federal agent suspected of murdering his ex-girlfriend in Orange County
last week shot and killed himself Saturday while being chased by police in
Louisiana's bayou country, officials said.

Tony Gerard Bailey, 35, had been the subject of a nationwide search since
Wednesday, when witnesses and police said he shot and killed Veda Harris
and wounded her sister, Wendy Campbell, in a jealous rage at Campbell's
home in Fullerton. &&&The Drug Enforcement Administration agent showed up
Saturday at the Opelousas home of Bailey's former brother-in-law, which had
been under surveillance by police there since Friday, Opelousas Police
Capt. Ronnie Trahan said. Bailey apparently went to the town north of
Lafayette searching for his ex-wife, Pamela Bailey, who was coming for a
family reunion, Trahan said.

Bailey had learned his ex-wife was headed to her hometown when he tried to
reach her by telephone in Texas, Trahan said. Her family alerted
authorities, and police placed her in protective custody, he said.

"No one knew what he wanted," Trahan said. "Whether he wanted to give her
something or talk to her, the possibilities were just too many."

Just before 2 p.m. local time on Saturday, an officer spotted Bailey in the
1996 black Ford Explorer he was seen driving from the murder scene, Trahan
said. The officer followed Bailey, who tried to escape, Trahan said.

By then, patrol cars had swarmed the area, and one police officer saw the
Explorer heading to Pamela Bailey's family home in the 700 block of
Planters Street, Trahan said. As the officer approached Bailey's vehicle,
the federal agent jumped out and ran, Trahan said.

As the officer chased Bailey and ordered him to stop, Bailey crossed a
fence, ran in and out of a gully and jumped another fence, Trahan said. The
officer heard a shot as he followed, Trahan said.

Bailey had shot himself once in the head, Trahan said. Police did not
recover any items from Bailey that could reveal why he wanted to see his
ex-wife, Trahan said. The weapon he used to kill himself was a 9-millimeter
semiautomatic pistol, Trahan said.

Fullerton police believe the weapon is the same one he fired four times
inside Campbell's home, Sgt. Kevin Hamilton said. DEA officials have said
the gun is not his duty weapon because Bailey has not had access to it for
two years.

Bailey, a 10-year agent with the DEA, had been on paid administrative leave
since 1997, when he was charged with felony child abuse for allegedly
shaking his infant daughter so violently that she suffered permanent brain
damage. A judge dropped the charges a year later.

Police said that child, now 2 and severely handicapped, may have witnessed
her mother's slaying. She was with two siblings and three cousins at the
home that night.

Campbell's fiance, James Fife, 45, said Saturday he was relieved that the
search was over so the family can "start healing." The victims' children
have been in protective custody since the shooting, and Campbell is
recovering from a gunshot wound at UCI Medical Center in Orange.

"It's just as well," Fife said of Bailey's suicide. "It spares us the
trouble of going through [a trial] and the heartache of worrying that he'll
do something else to hurt these kids. Now we can try to pick up the pieces
and move on."

Fife said he and Campbell hope to become legal guardians of Harris' three
children, including 2-year-old Alexus.