Thursday, August 21, 2003

By Jonathan D. Silver, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Police are mystified by the murder-suicide of a middle-aged couple in Vandergrift that apparently occurred without any preamble of fights, domestic abuse or threats.

Investigators determined that John Wallace, 42, shot Kathleen Ondo, 37, in the head Tuesday night before turning the gun on himself.

At the time of the shooting, which occurred in an upstairs bedroom, Ondo's 15-year-old daughter and two friends were relaxing downstairs, Vandergrift Police Chief Joseph Caporali said yesterday.

Police did not find a suicide note inside the house on Holland Street. As well, there were no reports of police responding to the house in the past or records that either person had sought a protection-from-abuse order, Caporali said.

In terms of a lack of rationale, Caporali said the case matches the municipality's last murder-suicide two years ago, in which no motive was ever determined.

Wallace worked for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and Ondo was employed by UPMC Shadyside, Caporali said.

At 10:17 p.m. Tuesday, police responded to a 911 hang-up call from the couple's home. A 911 employee called back and spoke to a woman, who said the situation was fine, Caporali said. A man then got on the phone and said everything was OK and police were not needed.

As per normal procedure, police went to the house anyway. As they were en route, the 911 center received another call, at 10:22 p.m., this one from Ondo's daughter. She reported that two people in her house were "down" and there was blood everywhere, Caporali said.

A small-caliber gun was used in the killings, and detectives from the Westmoreland County district attorney's office were trying to trace its ownership yesterday, Caporali said.

Caporali said although the case is clear-cut as far as who killed whom, investigators would continue to try to puzzle out the reason behind the murder-suicide for the peace of mind of family members.

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