Three dead in suspected murder-suicide in Ohio City

OHIO CITY — Two people were found shot to death in an Ohio City home Sunday morning, and the man who allegedly admitted to killing them was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, Van Wert County Sheriff Thomas Riggenbach announced in a statement Press release announced.

Shelby M. Coats, 29, of Ohio City, and Andrew C. Lause, 30, of Delphos, were found dead of gunshot wounds in Coats’ Ohio City home Sunday morning. Officers later located 51-year-old Paul A. Boldman of Ohio City at his home with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Riggenbach said at 8:09 a.m. Sunday, the sheriff’s office received a call from a friend of Boldman saying Boldman had confessed to killing his girlfriend and another man. The friend also said Boldman threatened suicide and left the caller’s house.

Officers entered an Ohio City home for a welfare check and discovered Coats and Lause were deceased.

At the same time, other officers located Boldman’s vehicle at his residence. While they waited for a search warrant, they set up a fence around the apartment. After obtaining the search warrant, members of the Van Wert Police Department SWAT team assisted officers in entering the second home.

They found Boldman with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, but he was still breathing. They took him to Van Wert EMS members stationed nearby before transporting him to Ohio Health Van Wert, where he was later pronounced dead.

Agents with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation assisted in the investigation of both homes. The Van Wert County Coroner’s Office and troopers from the Ohio State Highway Patrol Van Wert Post assisted

Riggenbach said the investigation into the incident is continuing.