TELLICO VILLAGE - Ron Kronholm's neighbors never knew he had an enemy - not until his wife came home to their million-dollar house on the lake and discovered his body.

"You could not have asked for a better neighbor," said Cheryl Cowen, who lives next door. "It's a real mystery."

The search continued Friday for whoever shot Kronholm, 79, in his wheelchair the day prior at his home on Cheeskogili Way.

"It was a crime of passion, maybe hatred," Loudon County Sheriff Tim Guider said. "We believe it was a crime targeted at this one individual."

A neighbor called E-911 on Thursday around 5:05 p.m. after Kronholm's wife, Susan, found him dead. Deputies arrived within 10 minutes and found no signs of a struggle or a break-in, the sheriff said.

He didn't say how many times Kronholm was shot or with what kind of gun. Authorities sent the body to the Regional Forensic Center in Knoxville for autopsy and called in the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to assist.

Kronholm had lived and worked as a contractor in the retirement community for more than a decade and built about 100 homes there over the years, including the house where he died.

"His business was not a factor," the sheriff said. "He was in poor health and on some medications, but we don't believe drugs were a factor. The family is cooperating. Everyone we talked to described him as a well-liked individual, a good neighbor and a good businessman."

Kronholm suffered from ALS, commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, and had used a wheelchair for years, authorities said. That didn't stop him from running his business and supervising construction jobs.

"We used to see him out on a site just about every day," said Nick Friend, a neighbor. "He had a great reputation, and he built a great house. He only built one kind of house - the kind he wanted."

Neighbors said he'd stopped working recently as his health grew worse, and the couple had put their house up for sale. The real estate sign stood in the yard Friday, framed by crime-scene tape.

Kronholm's wife had left town to visit a relative and asked someone to stay with him, the sheriff said. The caretaker left Thursday afternoon as the wife headed home, leaving Kronholm alone around 3:40 p.m., the sheriff said. He died sometime in the next 85 minutes.

Kronholm's death came just five months after a fatal shooting in April a few blocks away. Norman Bren Whitton, 69, faces a charge of second-degree murder after authorities said he shot Larry Butcher, 74, during an argument April 15 on Cheestana Way. Whitton has claimed self-defense.

"Those two crimes were close together, which was remarkable, but there's no connection," the sheriff said.