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'Carried some sadness, but channeled that through generosity:' Friend remembers Baldwin man who shot himself after alleged murder at his home

Baldwin County Sheriff, Bill Massee, says Clark Heindel shot himself when deputies arrived to investigate Marianne Shockley's death.

BALDWIN COUNTY, Ga. — The house on Watson Reynolds Road, where the bizarre murder-suicide of a UGA professor and a Milledgeville yoga studio owner happened, was still taped off on Wednesday afternoon.

Investigators are still gathering evidence at the property.

RELATED: 'One of the strangest cases I've ever worked:' What we know about the murder of a UGA professor in Milledgeville

Baldwin County Sheriff Bill Massee says Marcus Lillard strangled and killed his girlfriend Marianne Shockley some time between Saturday night and early Sunday morning. 

It all happened on Clark Heindel's property. According to Sheriff Massee, Heindel and Lillard were friends. Massee says Heindel shot himself in the head after deputies arrived on the scene to investigate. Lillard is currently in jail, charged with killing Shockley.

RELATED: Milledgeville man kills himself after talking to investigators about UGA professor's death

Tuesday, we heard from some of Shockley's family and former students, but Wednesday, a friend of Heindel's is speaking out.

RELATED: 'The community will be less joyful without her:' Former student remembers slain UGA professor

"He definitely carried some sadness, but he was able to always channel that through generosity," Zach Farr told 13 WMAZ via a FaceTime interview. "This was such a shock."

Farr used to work at Heindel's Good Karma yoga studio in Milledgeville and calls him a mentor and great friend.

"He was generous, just constantly always saying, 'Yes.' He was always there for you. He was also an incredibly smart person," says Farr. "If I could talk to him, I would just want to echo my appreciation for him and what he did for me and so many others. I just want others to look at him as a beacon for how to love other people." 

Before Heindel opened the Good Karma Yoga studio, he worked as a licensed psychologist in Milledgeville. The state's licensing board revoked his psychology license in 2017 after finding that Heindel had a sexual relationship with a former client.

According to his obituary:

Clark spent his life helping others battle their problems from addiction to losses suffered, to private demons, doubts and other disabilities he helped most. When successful, he was ecstatic; when not, he was personally burdened. He brought his tremendous skill sets to deal with his own great loss and other issues. The loss of a friend on his "watch" was a burden too great to bear.  

Via Facebook Messenger, another friend of Heindel's, Ryan Willis, told 13 WMAZ that Heindel made an impact on many people's lives while he was on Earth.

"Clark was a great man and touched many lives, including my own. He will be greatly missed. Suicide wasn't like him with as full of life that he was," says Willis. "Something sent him over the edge after the incident happened."

Willis says he was supposed to have a yoga appointment with Heindel on Tuesday. "He was always a calm, peaceful man who knew how to talk properly with his psychological patients and with those he taught yoga to," says Willis.

Ironically, Willis says Marcus Lillard is also his cousin. "I'm still in a state of shock from the events that happened this past weekend," says Willis.

According to his obituary, a private service will be held for Heindel in South Carolina.

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