Couple dead in apparent murder-suicide prepping for son’s grad party
DOVER TWP. (WJER) (June 1, 2025) – The Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office says a husband and wife are dead in an apparent murder-suicide at their home moments before they were to host a graduation party out back for their youngest son.
Sheriff Orvis Campbell says this was in the 2000 block of Gordon Road NW, between Dover and Sugarcreek, at about 1:30 p.m. Sunday.
Campbell, who wasn’t immediately releasing names of the deceased, says it is a mystery why the 54-year-old man would have allegedly shot his 53-year-old wife in the bedroom of their home. No fighting between the two had been observed just prior to their deaths.
“The information was that the husband had contacted the wife – who was up on top of the hill setting up for a party – asked her to come down and help him…[a] couple others came down with her. She went in the bedroom with him, that’s when the shooting occurred. There was no precursor,” Campbell said.
Campbell says sheriff’s detectives and Dover paramedics responded.
The husband was found deceased on the bed. The wife was on the ground near the bed clinging to life. She was taken to Mercy hospital in Canton, where she was pronounced deceased that afternoon.
He says there were no witnesses to the shooting; they only heard it.
“As we looked around and talked to the witnesses about what they heard and what is going on, the preliminary indication is that it’s a murder-suicide and that the subject had been suffering from some depression due to some medical illness,” said Campbell.
He says the incident remains under investigation.
“It’s got a lot of people, including the family, scratching their head as to why it took place because the timing of it was just horrific,” said Campbell. “It’s just one of those very sad situations and we’re going to work with the family as much as we can to get them as much help as we can.”