Hutchinson ? A Hutchinson doctor who was shot and killed a day before his wife killed herself had told his wife to “get an attorney” at some point before the shootings, police said.

Lillian Jeanne Stafford, 61, a psychology teacher at Hutchinson Community College, died Aug. 27 of what police said was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest. Police believe Stafford fatally shot her husband, Dr. Robert Stafford, also 61, the night before at his medical office near Hutchinson Hospital.

Lt. John Tracy said Monday police had determined Dr. Stafford was having an extramarital affair. Officers are still investigating the shootings.

Police are not sure what Dr. Stafford meant when he told his wife to “get an attorney,” whether it involved a divorce request or other possible legal action. Tracy said police were unsure exactly when Dr. Stafford made that statement.

Tracy also said someone had been shadowing the movements of Dr. Stafford and his nurse practitioner in and around the doctor’s clinic in the weeks before the shooting, but police were not sure if the person was Mrs. Stafford.

Accounts provided to police by Dr. Stafford’s office manager about the hours before the shooting do not suggest a developing confrontation, Tracy said.

“Mrs. Stafford had been there and left to do some errands,” Tracy said. “There was no direct indication there was going to be a problem.”

Assistant Police Chief Dave Higdon said he did not know what led up to the shootings.

“I can’t say we will ever know why that decision was made,” Higdon said. “But what we do know is that things were falling apart pretty rapidly that day.”

Dr. Stafford had been a Hutchinson physician for more than 30 years and had worked at Hutchinson Clinic before opening a practice specializing in internal medicine about three years ago. At the time of his death, he was serving between 1,500 and 2,000 patients at his office.