Wolverton, 28, of Springfield stabbed Nolan, 32, more than 40 times in front of her 8-year-old son after she refused his attempts at reconciliation at her Georgetown Drive residence, police said. Wolverton than took his own life by repeatedly stabbing himself following a police chase along Ohio 123 and Interstate 75.
“Of course she could have kept something from me, but there were no threats. I know she would not have put her children in that kind of situation,” said Bob Balabuch, who had been dating Nolan for the past three months.
Assistant Lebanon police chief Bob Hawley said the department was still investigating the murder. Hawley said Nolan’s 8-year-old son was present at the scene, but police had no plans to interview him.
“Why put him through anything else,” Hawley said. “He was tortured enough.”
Balabuch, who started dating Nolan in late December after being friends with her at work for the past five years, said he talked to her minutes before she was killed.
“She called me on her cell phone and said he was there with flowers. I asked her if she wanted me to come there, but she said she didn’t and then put the phone to her side and left it on,” Balabuch said.
Balabuch, a Burlington, Ky. resident, said he couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but knew something was wrong.
“There was nothing I could do. I felt helpless. I called 911, but it may have been too late,” he said.
Wolverton and Nolan met in May 2008, according to a post he made on Nolan’s MySpace page. From the start of their relationship, he frequently reminded her of his feelings for her via posts to the site.
Then, in early December, he broke it off with no warning and moved back to his parents home in Springfield, according to Balabuch. Wolverton left a formal letter that said he was leaving her and asked her to take care of bills they had together, Balabuch said.
Nolan used a Dec. 14, 2009 posting on her MySpace page, to express the shock of a break-up that occurred without warning. “He said nothing, no fights or anything,” she said in the entry. “He wrote a note and packed up his stuff and left me. He hurt me and he hurt my boys.”
Balabuch said Wolverton was never abusive toward Nolan, but said he was unemployed during most of their relationship.
Peggy Zinn, 41, of Lebanon, said she had been a friend of Nolan’s for about three years.
“She’s a very friendly, sweet, kind-hearted person who would do anything for you,” Zinn said.
Zinn said when the relationship between Nolan and Wolverton ended, he started leaving messages on her MySpace page and calling her several times at work. Zinn said Nolan also suspected Wolverton had been inside her apartment while she was at work.
Instead of dwelling on Wolverton’s actions, Nolan, it seems, moved on. “I cannot wait for today,” she wrote on Tuesday, March 9, “I get to see Bob.”
Balabuch mourned the death of Nolan, whom he called “the person that loved me unconditionally.”
“Every phone call was an occasion. Every meeting was an event. Those little moments added up. She held me Tuesday, kissed me and told me that she loved me. That kiss was my last moment with her. It is a tiny little moment to most people, but that is biggest one in my life,” Balabuch said.
Lebanon police said it will probably be three to four weeks until a final report is issued as they wait for the coroner’s report.
A memorial fund has been established in Shena Fitzgerald Nolan’s name. Donations can be made at LCNB in Lebanon, P.O. Box 59, Lebanon, OH, 45036, or at LCNB location.
The fund is to help Nolan’s family pay for funeral services and to provide long term financial support for her children. She also had a 10-year-old son, who was staying with grandparent during the murder.
Family members were setting funeral arrangements for Sunday, but no time had been set.
Eric Schwartzberg and Justin McClelland contributed to this story.
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