Gragg shot and killed Devlin as she slept sometime early Wednesday before taking his own life in their home on the 100 block of Keil Bay on Bay Farm Island, police Lt. Bill Scott said.

Gragg sent an e-mail to a group of people about 1:30 a.m., telling them that the couple were in debt and were being evicted, Scott said. A friend notified police, and officers found the front door of the home open and a note on it that said, "Call police. Our bodies are upstairs," Scott said.

Devlin was found lying on a futon, covered in blankets. She had been shot in the head, Scott said. Gragg was on the floor and also had a gunshot wound to the head, police said.

A .32-caliber Colt semiautomatic handgun was found at the scene, Scott said.

The murder-suicide is the latest in a spate of similar incidents in the East Bay.

On Sunday morning, Kimberly Petretti, 43, used an AR-15 assault rifle to shoot and kill her mother, Claudia Petretti, 62, at their home on the 4000 block of Marcas Street in Pinole, Contra Costa County prosecutor Harold Jewett said today.

The victim was shot in the face as she watched TV and played solitaire, authorities said.

Both mother and daughter had been facing eviction, police said. Kimberly Petretti has been charged with murder.

Police found a two-page handwritten letter in which the younger Petretti "contemplated both her own death and her mother's death," Jewett said. Kimberly Petretti did not harm herself, however.

On Sunday evening, Jason Montes, 33, shot and killed his wife, Serena Montes, 25, before turning the gun on himself at their home on the 2200 block of Acacia Drive in Concord. Jason Montes filed for personal bankruptcy protection in June, court records show.

E-mail Henry K. Lee at hlee@sfchronicle.com.