Police: Huber Heights man murdered wife, coworker before driving wife’s body to West Milton

Three people were shot and one of those people has died in a shooting Tuesday night in the 700 block of Second Street in Hamilton. | NICK GRAHAM/STAFF

Credit: Nick Graham

Credit: Nick Graham

Three people were shot and one of those people has died in a shooting Tuesday night in the 700 block of Second Street in Hamilton. | NICK GRAHAM/STAFF

A man found dead with his wife’s body in the trunk of their car outside the West Milton Municipal Building murdered her and another woman before killing himself, West Milton police said.

Police said that the man, identified as Jacob E. Prichard, 34, killed his wife, 33-year-old Jaymee M. Prichard, as well as a coworker, 25-year-old Jaime S. Gustitus of Sugarcreek Twp. early Saturday morning.

In a release, West Milton police said that at around 2 a.m. Saturday, Jacob Prichard went to Gustitus’ apartment in the 1600 block of Honey Tree Place in Sugarcreek Twp., where he broke in and killed her.

It is unknown when he killed his wife, police said, but his next known location was outside of the municipal building at 4:22 a.m., where he got out, opened the trunk where his wife’s body was, then killed himself.

West Milton Chief of Police Doyle Wright said over the weekend that Prichard appeared to have shot himself, and a handgun was found on the ground near him.

The bodies of the Prichards were discovered at 5:08 a.m. Saturday by a West Milton police officer who noticed the vehicle in the empty parking lot, Wright said.

Police said that Jacob and Gustitus worked together at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, but otherwise their relationship is unclear.

West Milton police said they are working with all four agencies connected to the incident as well as the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations and Wright Patterson Office of Special Investigations.

Anyone with information on the murders is asked to contact Miami County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Jason Moore by calling 937-440-6085, extension 3991.

Staff writer Holly Souther contributed to this report.

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