A mother, father and 14-year-old boy were found shot dead Sunday afternoon in their home at 5582 South Beck’s Mill Road, east of Salem.
Dead are Danny G. Newlin, 58, and his son, Austin, 14, of multiple gunshot wounds.
Mother Kelley Kay Newlin, 41, was shot once.
State Police were hunting for suspect Richard Lee Burton Jr. who had been living at the Newlin’s home. Evidence found at the scene indicated that he was the person involved in the killings.
Burton was found in Monroe County Indiana Monday morning, dead in the cab of his Dodge Ram truck. A self-inflicted gunshot wound is the preliminary cause of death.
According to Washington County Coroner Peg Shell, all three in the Newlin family died from gunshot wounds.
Police came to the home around 4p on Sunday to conduct a welfare check, after a caller from another state contacted police noting that the family might be in danger.
According to Indiana State Police Sgt. Jerry Goodin, “The caller had been in contact with Burton, and based on that conversation felt the family might be in danger.”
Goodin said that contact was last made with the family at about 8p on Saturday night.
The killing happened sometime over the next 24 hours.
Police have not released what type of gun was used, whether or not it was the same gun used by the alleged killer to kill himself or where the bodies were found in the home.
The autopsies were performed in Salem this morning under Shell’s direction.
Goodin said no further information on the incident will be released.
The autopsies provided positive identifications of the victims and gave detectives preliminary causes of death to all three victims.
According to Indiana State Police Sgt. Jerry Goodin, the locations where the bodies were found in the home will not be released.
Burton’s autopsy is being performed in Terre Haute, IN and all information from that autopsy will have to be provided by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department or the Monroe County Coroner’s Office.
These autopsies are preliminary and will not be official until Toxicology results are completed which typically take up to six weeks.
