UPDATE: 12:30PM 7/18/2012
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Authorities say an Ohio man charged with murdering his ex-girlfriend and her pregnant sister in Michigan fatally shot himself in a remote West Virginia cabin after seeing investigators closing in on him.
Deputy U.S. Marshal Alex Neville said Wednesday that a gunshot rang out seconds after Thomas Fritz ran into the cabin near Sistersville, W.Va., Tuesday evening. Marshals and local sheriff's deputies called for help because they didn't know if Fritz had shot himself or fired on them.
Neville says officers entered the cabin several hours later after firing tear gas into it. They found Fritz dead in a rear bedroom, as well as two assault rifles, a shotgun and a gas mask.
Neville says Fritz once worked for the cabin's owner and had been there several times.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
DETROIT (AP) - Police say an Ohio man charged with murdering his ex-girlfriend and her pregnant sister in Michigan fatally shot himself in a remote West Virginia cabin after seeing U.S. marshals closing in on him.
Michigan State Police Lt. Sean Furlong says the federal marshals heard a gunshot then found 38-year-old Thomas Fritz dead in the Sistersville, W.Va., cabin Tuesday night.
Police say the Sylvania, Ohio, man shot his ex-girlfriend, Amy Merrill, her pregnant 24-year-old sister, Lisa Gritzmaker, and their mother, Robin Lynn McCowan, on Friday at the Blissfield, Mich., home he and Merrill shared until recently.
Only McCowan survived. She is recovering from her wounds at a hospital.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
DETROIT (AP) - Police say an Ohio man charged with murdering his ex-girlfriend and her pregnant sister in Michigan fatally shot himself in a remote West Virginia cabin after seeing U.S. marshals closing in on him.
Michigan State Police Lt. Sean Furlong says the federal marshals heard a gunshot then found 38-year-old Thomas Fritz dead in the Sistersville, W.Va., cabin Tuesday night.
Police say the Sylvania, Ohio, man shot his ex-girlfriend, Amy Merrill, her pregnant 24-year-old sister, Lisa Gritzmaker, and their mother, Robin Lynn McCowan, on Friday at the Blissfield, Mich., home he and Merrill shared until recently.
Only McCowan survived. She is recovering from her wounds at a hospital.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
ORIGINAL STORY
DETROIT (AP) - Police say an Ohio man charged with murder in the shootings of his ex-girlfriend and her pregnant sister in Michigan has been found dead in West Virginia.
Michigan State Police Lt. Sean Furlong says the U.S. Marshals Service discovered the body of 38-year-old Thomas Fritz in a remote cabin in Tyler County, W.Va., on Tuesday night.
The Sylvania, Ohio, man also is charged with one count of assault with intent to commit murder after authorities say he wounded the sisters' mother in the Friday shooting in Blissfield, 20 miles northwest of Toledo, Ohio.
Police say he killed 33-year-old Amy Merrill, who was his ex-girlfriend, and 24-year-old Lisa Gritzmaker, who was about 8 months pregnant.
Police say 52-year-old Robin Lynn McCowan is recovering at a hospital.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
