DEERFIELD TOWNSHIP - Fires, explosions and what investigators say may have been gunshots disrupted the placid back country north of Malta Tuesday night as a Morgan County man allegedly killed his sister, set fire to her house, then ignited a blaze at his own home before killing himself.
"He was a disabled veteran," Morgan County Sheriff Thomas Jenkins said of Charles Turner, 61, 7870 Brown Lane in Deerfield Township.
Turner was reportedly having legal and/or financial issues with his sister, Rosemary Brown, 55, who lived at 7200 Frash Road, approximately 1,100 yards from Turner's home, according to a sheriff's office press release.
Investigators said it appeared that Turner went to Brown's home and an altercation occurred during which Brown was killed. Turner then set fire to her house and car.
Afterward, Turner returned to his home, where he apparently cut trees to block the driveway, ignited fires in his mobile home, truck and Jeep SUV, and then took his own life.
A portion of Turner's lengthy driveway was still littered Wednesday afternoon with pieces of tree trunks firefighters had to remove to reach his burning home the night before.
On the hillside above the driveway, smoke continued to rise from what remained of Turner's home.
"He blocked the drive off pretty well," Jenkins said as he continued an on-site investigation Wednesday.
On Frash Road, yellow crime scene tape blocked the entrance to Brown's driveway.
"That site is still pretty hot, and we were afraid that someone might get hurt," Jenkins said. "But we're also still investigating."
He said evidence had been collected from both sites and as of Wednesday afternoon investigators were waiting for preliminary autopsy results.
Shane Cartmill, public information officer with the Ohio Fire Marshal's Office, said in a press release that the Morgan and Licking County coroners are conducting the autopsies.
Cartmill added that although the fire marshal's office has not released specific details about how the fires were started, "based on evidence and circumstances, investigators were able to determine the fires were intentionally set" and the incident had been ruled as arson.
He said a neighbor reported the fires. The sheriff's release said the first calls came in around 10:45 p.m. Tuesday.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification and the McConnelsville and Malta Volunteer Fire Department also assisted Jenkins' office during the incident.
Brown's death is the second homicide in Morgan County in a little more than a month and the third in a year.
On June 2, sheriff's deputies discovered the body of Abi S. Matthews, 35, at her Third Street Malta apartment. They arrested 17-year-old Travis Lee Fischer, of McConnelsville, who was a friend of the family, and charged him with aggravated murder.
In September, Rodney Spencer, 49, was discovered dead in his Plum Street home in McConnelsville after a fire that was later ruled as arson. That case remains under investigation.
It's also the second murder-suicide in the region this year.
On Feb. 18, Noble County authorities found that Ted Bayly, 39, had killed his wife, Janice, 40, and 11-year-old son, Colton, then himself. It was believed money problems led to the killings.
