The manhunt for 64-year-old Robert McLaughlin is over after the alleged killer of a local school teacher was found dead.
Early Thursday afternoon, sheriff's deputies in Ashtabula County found McLaughlin dead next to his mother's grave at the Unionville Cemetery, which is located off state Route 84, about 100 yards east of Unionville Center in Ashtabula County near Geneva on the Lake. They also found his rented mini van.
"As we began to get closer to Mr. McLaughlin, he ended up at this cemetery here. I guess there's a family member that's buried here, and it was at this location where he ended his own life with a gunshot wound to the head with a small caliber handgun," said Canfield Police Chief Chuck Colucci.
On Wednesday, police issued a warrant for McLaughlin in the shooting death of 40-year-old Stacy Sutera, a science teacher with the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center. It was one year ago to the day that the victim had filed a $1.5 million harassment lawsuit against him.
She was killed in the parking lot of her Carriage Hill apartment complex in Canfield as she was leaving for work about 7 a.m. Wednesday. An all points bulletin was issued shortly after the shooting for police to be on the lookout for McLaughlin, and an aggravated murder warrant was issued later in the day.
McLaughlin had been convicted in late 2010 of stalking Sutera. Last November, he was convicted in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court of pandering obscenities and weapons charges from the same incident. He spent some time in jail, but was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to complete an anger management program.
Some of the crimes McLaughlin has been accused of include sending pornographic fliers out advertising that Sutera had "certain sexual proclivities" to local school districts, government offices and area businesses. When police searched McLaughlin's house in Painesville in 2011, they found photos of the victim, dozens of guns, pornography and computer equipment.
Over the last 12-hours, police had searched McLaughlin's home in Painesville, as well as a storage facility that gave them new clues as to his whereabouts.
"Within the storage locker, we did find a suicide note, but at that time, we didn't believe he had committed suicide last night," Colucci said.
Police praised the assistance they received from other law enforcement agencies and task forces to resolve the case so quickly.
"We feel terrible for her family. Our thoughts and prayers are with her, but all in all, law enforcement came together fast, and we didn't stop until we were able to put this to a conclusion," Colucci said.
