By Mark Ferenchik
The Columbus Dispatch
GROVE CITY, Ohio — Grove City police are investigating the deaths of a Franklin County deputy sheriff and his wife whose bodies were discovered yesterday in their home.
The bodies of Wayne A. and Kathleen A. Urban were found shortly after 10 a.m. yesterday at 4153 Haughn Rd. The body of Mrs. Urban, 61, was in a bedroom; 65-year-old Mr. Urban’s was in the garage.
Mr. Urban apparently died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Grove City Police Capt. Steve Robinette said.
It’s unclear how Mrs. Urban died. Robinette said there was no indication that she had been shot, stabbed or hit. He said police would look at whether she had been strangled, suffocated or drugged.
Franklin County Coroner Brad Lewis said autopsies probably would be performed Tuesday.
Sheriff Jim Karnes said Urban worked in the county jail.
A neighbor called police after he discovered a note on his car yesterday morning saying where the bodies could be found, Robinette said.
Next-door neighbor David Brokaw wouldn’t comment on the contents of the note.
“It’s hard to believe,” Brokaw said. “I’m shocked.”
Neighbor Harvey Holmes has known the couple for decades, and he said the note, presumably written by Mr. Urban, said, “I’ve made a mistake,” and described where to find the bodies.
“Whatever his mistake was, he probably figured he couldn’t carry on without her,” Holmes said.
The Urbans were longtime residents of the neighborhood, buying their house in 1976, Franklin County property records show. Employment records show Mr. Urban had been a Franklin County deputy since 1999.
Before becoming a deputy, Mr. Urban had served in the Air Force and worked for the government, Holmes said.
He said Mrs. Urban had grown up in Grove City and attended Grove City High School. The two met after high school, Holmes said.
They had one child, who lives out of state.
The Urbans attended Grove City United Methodist Church, the Rev. Tom Danklefsen said.
Holmes said, “I never heard them argue or cuss or anything. They were good people.”
A pair of lighted Christmas wreaths decorated the front of the house yesterday afternoon. A blue tarpaulin covered the front doorway and another partially covered the garage area as investigators worked.
Holmes said he had spoken with Mr. Urban on Friday while Urban was cutting his grass and saw Mrs. Urban put up their Christmas lights Saturday.
“I was going to tell her how pretty they looked,” Holmes said. “It’s just a shock.”
Dispatch reporter Garrett Downing contributed to this story.
Copyright 2008 Columbus Dispatch