COUDERSPORT – A Shinglehouse man shot his former girlfriend in
the abdomen three times before taking his own life along Wild Cat
Road in Sharon Township Sunday morning, according to
Coudersport-based state police.

The deaths of David Paul Mesler, 36, of RD 1 Wild Cat Road, and
Kelly Jo Sherwood, 35, of Cris Lane, Eldred, were ruled
murder/suicide. Both were pronounced dead at the scene by Potter
County Coroner Kevin Dusenbury Sunday morning. Both died of
multiple gunshot wounds, police said.

Based on the autopsies performed Monday in Erie and a
Coudersport-based state police investigation, Dusenbury ruled
Monday that Mesler’s death was a suicide and Sherwood’s death was a
homicide.

According to a press release issued by the state police, Mesler
took his brother’s truck and a .22 LR semi-automatic rifle from his
father’s gun cabinet. He went to the Roadside Tavern in
Shinglehouse at the corner of Route 44 and Horse Run Road, where
Sherwood was employed. Sherwood, also known as Kelly Jo Barrett,
was opening the restaurant at 6 a.m. Sunday and showed up at work
in her sport-utility vehicle.

Police said Mesler met her at about 5:50 a.m. and got into her
SUV. He left his brother’s truck in the bar parking lot.

Sherwood’s SUV ended up in a wooded lot a short distance in the
woods on a hill behind Mesler’s parents’ home on Wild Cat Road,
where he was staying since moving out of Sherwood’s residence in
Eldred. Police said Mesler shot Sherwood three times in the upper
abdomen and then shot himself twice, once in the upper abdomen and
the second in the chest.

Police said Mesler died after Sherwood.

Police were dispatched to the scene at 9:13 a.m. Sunday,
according to Potter County Control, after a family member found
Mesler and Sherwood. Police found the gun in the vehicle at the
scene.

Potter County District Attorney Dawn Fink’s office released a
statement late Monday afternoon. “The state police are
investigating an incident involving two individuals, Kelly Sherwood
and David Mesler, who were both found to be deceased in a vehicle
at 158 Wild Cat Road, Sharon Township, Potter County. The victims
appeared to have died from multiple gunshot wounds, and the
investigation is ongoing,” the statement read.

The police investigation is still continuing, and anyone who had
contact with Mesler Saturday evening or Sunday morning is asked to
call Coudersport-based state police.

Police were assisted at the scene and in the investigation by
Dusenbury, the Shinglehouse Volunteer Ambulance, the Shinglehouse
Volunteer Fire Co., the state police crime unit, the state police
patrol, Emporium-based state police, Kane-based state police and
Dave Black’s Towing.