SHARON Police probe killing of three

Police had answered previous calls reporting domestic disputes at the scene of the shootings.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
SHARON, Pa. -- A city woman and her male friend were shot to death Monday evening in her home by her former husband, who then shot and killed himself, authorities said.
J. Bradley McGonigle, Mercer County coroner, has ruled the deaths of Susan Stafford, 40, and her friend, Randy Trepasso, 42, homicides, and the death of William Stafford, 46, a suicide.
The shootings occurred shortly before 9 p.m. in a second-floor front bedroom of a duplex at 760 S. Irvine Ave., just 180 feet from the Pennsylvania-Ohio line, which also serves as the Sharon city limits.
"It was probably a domestic type situation which caused it," said Police Chief Raymond Greene, adding that all three were found dead in the room where the shootings occurred.
A rifle and a handgun apparently were used in the shootings, but there doesn't appear to have been a struggle before the shootings, he said. Police had answered previous calls reporting domestic disputes at Ms. Stafford's residence, he said.
Police account: Greene said William Stafford, who is divorced from Susan and lives on Third Street, apparently entered her home while everyone was away and was lying in wait when they came home shortly before 9 p.m.
Ms. Stafford had undergone outpatient knee surgery earlier in the day at Sharon Regional Health System, and her family and Trepasso helped her to the second-floor bedroom, Greene said.
She and Trepasso stayed there watching television while her children, Autumn Stafford, 15, and Tom Mortimer, 20, and a female friend of Tom's went back downstairs.
Mortimer then heard gunshots, ran upstairs to see what had happened and spotted William Stafford standing in the bedroom with a rifle. He ran to call 911 for help.
Police said William Stafford apparently shot his ex-wife and Trepasso with a .30-30 caliber hunting rifle and then shot himself once in the head with a .357-caliber handgun. Trepasso was shot several times, police said.
Police don't know if the guns were in the house or if William Stafford brought them.
Neighbor's reaction: "It's unbelievable. I didn't think anything like this would happen," said Theresa Tolonie, who lives in the other half of the duplex at 758 S. Irvine Ave.
She said the Stafford family had lived there for a year and two months. She characterized the family as "nice, quiet, friendly."
"He would come here and bother her, more or less, trying to get her back," Tolonie said of William Stafford, who was Autumn's father.
Tolonie said the shootings occurred while she was away from her home for 15 minutes, and she returned to find Ms. Stafford's son and daughter coming out of the house screaming.
Shortly after midnight, a large crowd was still gathered at the scene, which was visible on a main thoroughfare, U.S. Route 62.