Iraq War Vet Murders Wife Commits Suicide–Pfc. Michael Gwinn Jr

Thursday, January 11, 2007
by Theodore Decker
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Pfc. Michael Gwinn Jr. fatally shot his wife, Patricia, and then himself in her Far East Side home, police say.

The boy wanted to ask the girl to the prom, but she had a baby. So he went to his father for advice.

The baby didn’t have to be a problem, Michael Gwinn Sr. told his son. Go ahead and ask her.

“He took her to the prom, and they were thick as thieves since,” Gwinn Sr. said. “They had a beautiful wedding at Park of Roses.

“I find myself responsible for this relationship.”

The relationship of the 22-year-old Beechcroft High School sweethearts withered in violence on the Far East Side on Tuesday, when police said Michael Gwinn Jr. fatally shot his wife, Patricia, before killing himself. His family said he bought the gun after returning from military service in Iraq.

Inside the apartment but unharmed were the couple’s two children, Michael Gwinn III, 2, and Cameron Gwinn, 6 months; and Patricia Gwinn’s eldest child, Jaylin Woods, 5.

The boys were alone with their dead parents for hours before Patricia Gwinn’s family called police to check on her late Tuesday afternoon.

Read the rest in The Columbus Dispatch.

~ by Anthony on January 12, 2007.