Couple found shot in home before grad party they were set to host, Ohio cops say

A husband shot and killed his wife before a graduation party they were set to host, Ohio authorities say.

A woman who was getting ready for the party heard gunshots at the Dover Township home around 1:30 p.m. Sunday, June 1, according to the Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office.

She told a dispatcher the 54-year-old man who lived in the home had shot his 53-year-old wife before shooting himself, deputies said. It happened shortly before a graduation party near the couple’s home.

“The graduation party was for a child who resided in the home but was not in the home at the time because the party, which had not yet begun, was to be a couple of hundred yards away from the home on the property,” the sheriff’s office said.

Upon arrival, deputies found the 54-year-old man dead on his bed, according to a news release.

His wife was lying “on the the floor near the bed” with a gunshot wound. Deputies said she was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

The sheriff’s office did not provide a motive, but they said early investigation suggests the deaths were a murder-suicide.

The identities of the husband and wife have not been publicly disclosed as of June 2.

Coroners in Tuscarawas and Stark counties are working to determine the manner and causes of death of the couple, the sheriff’s office said.

Dover Township is about an 85-mile drive south from Cleveland.

This story was originally published June 2, 2025 at 11:25 AM with the headline "Couple found shot in home before grad party they were set to host, Ohio cops say."