Police investigate woman's death as homicide

By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR PENNSYLVANIA BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Police are treating the death of a Crestview Gardens woman as a homicide.
Police Chief Tom Sansone said officers were called to the apartment of Kaye Roche, 47, at 10:38 a.m. Tuesday, and she was found lying across a sofa.
Sansone said he did not want to get into the details of Roche's death until an autopsy had been performed, but police were treating her death as a homicide.
The police chief said Roche was last seen alive Sunday evening near her residence, 1138 Apt. 2A Parkwood Court in the Crestview Gardens apartment complex. A neighbor became concerned after not seeing Roche for a few days and found Roche's body after going into her apartment Tuesday, Sansone said.
Roche lived alone but had family in the Pittsburgh area, the chief said.
Sansone said police are trying to identify two people who were seen in the area when Roche was last seen alive.
The police chief said they hope to perform the autopsy today. He said the forensic pathologist who normally performs autopsies in Lawrence County, Dr. Karl Williams, is away at a conference and his normal back up, Dr. James Smith in Beaver County, also was unavailable.
The police chief said Roche was pronounced dead at the scene. He said the neighbor initially called an ambulance before police were alerted. This the city's first homicide of the year.
cioffi@vindy.com