American Notes INVESTIGATIONS

At about 2 a.m. last Monday, Eva Shoen, 44, was shot to death in her family's mountain resort home outside Telluride, Colo. The killing had the signs of a professional hit: the gunman managed to slip into the house without disturbing seven guard dogs and Shoen's sleeping children. But what was the motive? Police have not ruled out a possible link to the feud between Shoen's husband Sam, 45, and other family members who are battling for control of the Phoenix- based U-Haul International truck-rental empire (1989 sales: $1 billion).

The power struggle began four years ago when patriarch L.S. Shoen began turning the U-Haul dynasty over to his 12 children. Since then, son Sam has become embroiled in an interfamily management dispute that reached the level of fisticuffs at a 1989 meeting. The elder Shoen is now attempting to regain control of the company and bring the feud to an end.