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Gun found at Warren homicide, suicide was stolen
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Police said Wednesday the gun found with the body of Roleigh Culver, 27, of Elmwood Drive in Howland was reported stolen from a nearby house the night before.
Michael Settle, 56, of Hamilton Street Southwest reported that Culver visited Settle’s house Thursday, and Settle discovered his handgun missing Friday afternoon, several hours after Culver was seen fatally shooting his girlfriend, Jessica A. Crowder, 36. He is believed to have fled to a nearby house and fatally shot himself.
Crowder died at the house where she lived with her two children and her mother at 1336 Hamilton St. SW, next door to Settle’s house.
Police said Culver and Crowder argued in front of Crowder’s house at 1336 Hamilton about 11:30 a.m., then Culver chased Crowder into the house and shot her multiple times in a bedroom.
Crowder’s daughter, 11, called 911, telling a 911 operator she had just witnessed the shooting.
A short time later, police went into a nearby vacant house on Nevada Avenue Southwest, where Culver shot himself to death as police closed in.
Police recovered a handgun near Culver’s body. It was Settle’s gun, but it’s too soon to say for sure that it is the gun that killed Crowder and Culver until ballistics evaluations are conducted, said Capt. Rob Massucci of the Warren Police Department.
Culver and Crowder had been dating on and off for three years. He had been staying at Crowder’s house for a couple of days at the time he killed Crowder, a Crowder family member said.
Culver had a long history of domestic violence. He was named in 18 police reports from Warren and Howland dating back to 2007 in which he was named as suspect in domestic-related incidents.
He had also spent time in the Trumbull County Jail on multiple occasions for incidents involving women.