Bradford couple Lauren and Sala Dart both died in an apparent
homicide-suicide in their home, police said Thursday, hours before
Lauren Dart was to be sentenced on insurance and theft charges.
The Darts’ bodies were discovered in their home at 644 Seaward
Ave. Thursday morning when a person from out of town discovered a
note on the front door of the Dart residence Thursday morning and
called police based on what was written in the note, according to
Foster Township Police officer Kevin Shaffer.
Shaffer did not release what exactly was written in the
note.
He did say, however, that police were dispatched to the scene at
10:18 a.m. for “an apparent homicide-suicide.” He said the deceased
were determined to be Lauren Dart, 71, and his wife, Sala Dart,
62.
“The decedents each died of a single gunshot wound to the
chest,” Shaffer said. The official time of death for the pair was
10:25 a.m. Thursday.
“This is an ongoing investigation,” Shaffer went on to say, “but
a preliminary determination has been made that both parties
cooperated in ending their lives.”
McKean County Coroner Mike Cahill and McKean County District
Attorney John Pavlock assisted the Foster Township Police at the
scene.
Cahill said Thursday the official cause of death for both of the
Darts is a single gunshot wound to the chest by a pistol. He
reiterated Shaffer’s findings, saying the couple had “planned for a
period of time to end their lives together.”
The manner of death, Cahill said, is unclear at this time.
There are four main categories involving the manner of death –
natural, accidental, homicidal and suicidal.
Lauren Dart pleaded guilty to insurance fraud and theft charges
on April 20 in McKean County Court in Smethport. He had been
charged for a string of incidents between Jan. 1, 2001, and Sept.
24, 2005, records show.
Senior Deputy Attorney General Dennis A. Kistler prosecuted Dart
and told the court in April that Dart presented 2,800 receipts to
Highmark for fraudulent prescription reimbursements, illegally
obtaining $117,000. Kistler said Dart also submitted 156 fraudulent
medical bills totaling $6,200 in reimbursements he was not legally
entitled to do so.
Dart was charged in early December of last year and was
initially set to be sentenced June 2, but his sentencing had been
continued to Thursday.
State Attorney General Tom Corbett said in December, when he
announced his agents were charging Dart, that Dart was charged with
two counts each of insurance fraud and theft by deception. Each
count was a third-degree felony, he said, punishable by up to seven
years imprisonment and a $15,000 fine.
Pavlock was not available Thursday night for further
comment.
