Trumbull coroner rules on suicide, says shooting death 'pending'

WARREN — The Trumbull County coroner has ruled the death of a man found hanging on a wooden beam Sunday in a former Warren Township dump a suicide, but the cause of death of a man found shot behind Madden's bar in Niles is pending.

The body of the man found at the dump has been identified as Jon Ard, 48, of Paris Township, Portage County.

His body was sent to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office, which concluded that his death was suicide by hanging. The Trumbull County coroner, Dr. Thomas James, made that ruling official.

Dental records and fingerprints were used to identify Ard. Two men fishing near the former dump off of Burnett Road detected a terrible odor and called 911 Sunday afternoon.

Following a Cuyahoga County autopsy, Dr. James ruled that the Monday-morning death of Clayton Bender, 23, of Warren, is "pending."

Kathy Meszaros, chief investigator for Dr. James, said the words "pending" were all that the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office gave her regarding Bender's autopsy.

She said she does not know the reason their opinion is still pending.

Robin L. Caviness, 39, of state Route 46 in Howland was charged with murder in Bender's death.

Bender was found shot in a car behind Madden's Bar and Grill on Youngstown Road at around 2 a.m. Monday.