‘Absolutely horrible’: Old Town Bluffton workers react to rare murder-suicide
Not much happens in Bluffton’s Promenade, locals say.
“It’s very quiet,” said Alison Haynes, who owns a women’s boutique in the Promenade. “I definitely feel extremely safe on a normal basis.”
The quaint shopping area, located in the heart Old Town Bluffton, is a popular destination for locals. Beautiful two- and three-story buildings inspired by classic southern architecture house a variety of shops and restaurants arranged around a small green space.
Haynes’ store, Monkee’s, is just around the corner from the Sippin’ Cow Cafe and Grill, where an hourslong police standoff occurred just days prior.
At around 11:30 p.m. Feb. 19, a man living in the Promenade shot two people in Hilton Head’s North Forest Beach neighborhood and fled home. Police tracked him down to his residence above the Sippin’ Cow Cafe; after several hours of negotiations, they entered the building around 4:40 a.m. to find him dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Most restaurants in Bluffton close by 9 or 10 p.m., so few were around to witness the police standoff. Most workers found out about the murder-suicide through local news reports.
Interviewed inside her store Tuesday afternoon, Haynes said she was on cruise in the Bahamas when she got a text from her manager with the news.
“It’s crazy,” she said. “It’s a tragedy that something like that happened for that family.”
Not everyone had heard about the tragic incident next door, however.
Sarah Parmelee, a receptionist at Salon Karma, opened her eyes wide when a reporter told her about the murder-suicide.
“I had no idea,” the St. Helena resident said. “It’s absolutely horrible.”
She stops by Sippin’ Cow most mornings for a bacon egg and cheese biscuit, she said.
“It’s mind-blowing that something like that could happen in an area that people walk every day,” Parmelee said. “This is a safe area.”
Parmelee said she feels sorry for the families of the victims and prays that they get “proper closure and healing.”
Trey Matthews, Assistant General Manager at Captain Woody’s, also hadn’t heard about the shooting before a reporter asked him about it. He said he doesn’t pay too much attention to the news.
“Somebody shot two people and then shot themselves — obviously, they were in a dark spot,” Matthews said.
For Haynes, whose sister has bipolar disorder, mental health also came to mind.
“Mental health is such a big issue nowadays, and there’s no resources for it, unless you have the funds to pay for those resources,” Haynes said.
Haynes said that in the days since the shooting, business continued on as normal, except for the usual chatter about the recent news.
“It’s almost like it never happened, other than people being like, ‘Did you hear what happened?’” the boutique owner said. She added, “It’s a tragedy that something like that happened for that family.”
What happened?
The details of the murder-suicide are still coming to light, but here’s what is known so far based on police records and interviews with friends of the deceased.
At around 11:30 p.m. Dave Duffey, 62, of Hilton Head and Catherine Warrington, 50, of Bluffton were shot outside a short-term rental home in North Forest Beach.
That evening, Duffey was hosting a few friends for dinner, including Warrington and a couple from Boston. Duffey, known as “Duff” amongst friends, loved to entertain and was famous for his paella.
Neighbors called 911 after they heard gunshots, followed by a woman screaming, followed by more gunshots.
The suspected gunman fled before police arrived, but police used automatic license plate reading cameras to track down his vehicle at his home on 36 Promenade Street in Old Town Bluffton.
He was later identified as Dustin Linsley, 52. Less than a month prior, Linsley, an ex-boyfriend of Warrington, allegedly showed up unannounced at Warrington’s home and pointed a handgun at her, according to a domestic violence report filed by Warrington three days later.
This story was originally published February 25, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
