A seemingly quiet rural camping area in Marshburg was the scene
of a tragic murder-suicide, as a Columbus, Ohio, man shot and
killed his son and then later turned the gun on himself.
Kane-based state police said the incident happened sometime
between 3 p.m. Monday and 10:45 a.m. Tuesday.
Police said the 6-year-old son of John V. Ash, 26, of Columbus,
died at the camp as a result of an apparent self-inflicted single
gunshot wound to the head. The son also died of a gunshot wound to
the head, according to McKean County Coroner Mike Cahill.
Authorities said both were discovered dead inside the camp
Tuesday morning, which is located on Route 59 between Marshburg and
U.S. Route 219 in Lafayette Township.
Cahill told The Era Tuesday night the child’s name was Nicholas
John Ash. The manner of death was ruled a homicide, he said.
Cahill went on to say no autopsies were planned on either
person.
Tucked safely away from the road and surrounded by late summer
foliage, the camp where the pair died hardly seems like a murder
scene. To passers-by, the only indication that anything could be
amiss was the bright yellow police tape hanging from tree branches
close to the road.
Further down the dirt road that eventually leads to the camp,
more police tape completely blocks off the entrance to the yard of
the camp, where a faux white-tail deer stands. The wooded area
leading up to the scene, complete with oil jacks and other drilling
equipment, is reminiscent of at least a dozen other hunting camps
in the area.
It was not clear Tuesday night who owned the camp where the
father and son died.
McKean County District Attorney John Pavlock, who assisted at
the scene, said Tuesday night from his home that the incident is
“an extremely tragic and devastating event,” but did not release
any further details.
The Lafayette Township Volunteer Fire Department and Bradford
City ambulance assisted at the scene, according to the McKean
County Emergency Dispatch Center. A representative there said
Tuesday afternoon the police and emergency responders were
dispatched to the scene at 10:48 a.m. Tuesday.
No further information was available at press time.
(Era City Editor Sandra Rhodes contributed to this report.)
