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Shooting 'sad ... senseless ... unnecessary' John McBeth's family remembers a devoted father who recently worked on the Shakespeare festival's new theater project By SARAH LEMON A Medford family's Thanksgiving gathering lacked a member at the table. On this holiday weekend, those close to John Alan McBeth fondly remembered the son, brother, nephew and father who was shot Tuesday at his Applegate home. "It's a sad, sad ... senseless ... unnecessary death regardless of guilt or innocence," said McBeth's aunt Jerrie Reel, who spoke for McBeth's mother Peggy Hulse. A Jackson County grand jury is scheduled to convene early next week to examine the circumstances surrounding McBeth's death. McBeth, 35, apparently was arguing with an unidentified Medford man when he was shot in his Hogan Road home Tuesday. Someone at the residence reported the shooting to police at 9:26 p.m. No arrests have been made in connection with the death and none will be made until the district attorney's office further reviews the case, said sheriff's Lt. Dewey Patten. At least three people, including a woman, were at the residence at the time of the shooting, he said. The slaying may have been accidental or in self-defense, Patten said, declining to comment on whether McBeth was armed, or on what type of weapon was involved. Reel said McBeth's family is confident that the truth of the situation will be known following the grand jury's decision. McBeth reportedly was moving into the Hogan Road residence, which had been a previous address listed on his driver's license, Patten said. Reel said McBeth was planning to sell the home after his wife, Molly McBeth, moved out and after their divorce was final. The couple separated about a year ago, Reel said. "It's never bloodless," she said. "But who would ever imagine that (a divorce) would end like this?" Reel said the McBeths were married about seven years and adopted a son, now 3 years old. Molly McBeth reportedly had custody of the child the night of the shooting. A 1984 Phoenix High School graduate, McBeth was a project manager at Medford-based Pacific Electrical Contractors and had most recently worked on the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's new theater project. Reel said he was a devoted father who watched "Blue's Clues" with his son Brigger, and a sports fan who traveled to Oakland, Calif., the weekend before he died to see a Raiders football game with a friend, Reel said. "He was the type of person you were glad to have met," she added. A funeral service for John McBeth is scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday at Phoenix Church of Christ, 411 W. First St., Phoenix. A public viewing will be held from 3 to 7:30 p.m. Monday at Conger-Morris funeral home, 715 W. Main St., Medford. Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.