Money and wine at center of Napa County murder-suicide

"My brother was the kindest and smartest man I knew," she said. "He will be truly missed. He was only 48 years old."

Dahl sued Tawfilis in Santa Clara county court last year, accusing him of usury. The judge threw the case out. Then Tawfilis sued Dahl to get his money back.

"There's a whole series of increasingly bitter emails that are part of the court record between Emad and Dahl," Perdue said. "By the end of last week he [Dahl] was still facing 18 counts of contempt of court, because he simply never did anything the court told him to."

Dahl was ordered to return five wine tanks last week, which had been used as collateral in the loan Tawfilis provided him. Dahl did not return the tanks.

Tawfilis, Dahl and their attorneys were supposed to meet Monday morning at a San Francisco law office, to work out how Dahl would pay back the $1.2 million he owed.

"Robert was going to lose everything right there," Perdue said.

According to Tawfilis' attorney, David Wiseblood, Dahl made a last-minute change and asked if they could meet at his vineyard instead of San Francisco. The attorneys were on the phone, the two men were in the winery building when the conflict broke out.

The shooting happened shortly after.

Autopsies for the two men are scheduled for Tuesday, sheriff's officials said.