THE sister of a woman who was shot in the neck by her ex-husband says her sister was a kind, innocent woman who did not deserve what happened to her. 

Her comments come after Greg Murray shot his ex-partner and her husband after forcing his way into their Kerang house where six children were staying on Saturday night.

His body was found in Murrabit West, along with his partner's, early Sunday morning.

A family friend said Murray, 43, had been battling with his former partner for access to their three children. 

But the sister of his ex-wife, who does not wish to be named, said Mr Murray had fortnightly access to the children and was not the "hard done-by man he was made out to be". 

"He shot his ex-wife, he shot his current partner to death and all those children in the house could have been shot too," she said. 

"The blame shouldn't be on my sister.

"His partner (who was killed) was innocent and had children of her own - what about them? And what about the children who were home at the time of the shooting?"

The woman said it was "just not true" that Mr Murray was denied access to his children. 

"My sister actually encouraged the kids to see their father, even after everything that happened in the failed marriage," she said. 

"They had called him for his birthday in July and saw his son every few weeks."

Inspector Jamie Templeton said there was nothing to give police any indication that the crime would occur.

"There was no history or signs of violence," he said. 

"We couldn't possibly see anything coming. This is a horrific crime, and traumatic for all involved. It’s a terrible set of circumstances."

Murray went armed with a shotgun he took from a relative to the home of his ex-wife in Kerang at 11.30pm on Saturday, police said. The couple had split up about six years ago and the woman, 42, was living with her new husband, a local butcher aged 47, in Lloyd Street.

There were six children inside the house at the time - three to the dairy farmer and his former partner, two from his former partner and her new husband and a friend of one of the children.

His ex-wife was shot in the hand and neck before her new husband, who suffered pellet wounds to his chest and shoulder, and a neighbour wrestled the gun off the farmer.

Police said Murray fled after the struggle, taking a second gun with him to his property 30 kilometres away in Salau Road, Murrabit West.

He dumped his car, which had not run out of fuel, and walked a kilometre to his house, which is on the same property as his parents'.

When police arrived at 4.20am, they found his 41-year-old partner, from nearby Pental Island, dead inside and Murray's body inside another car parked in the carport. It is unclear whether Murray killed his partner before travelling to Kerang.

The ex-wife and her husband were hospitalised.

"My sister isn't in a good way and is undergoing surgery all day," the woman said. 

"She was in bed at home, innocently with her children, and this has happened." 

Source: Bendigo Advertiser