Pennsylvania This article is more than 9 years oldPennsylvania police find body of man suspected of killing six family members
This article is more than 9 years oldFormer US marine Bradley Stone, 35, was subject of intense manhunt after allegedly shooting seven members of his ex-wife’s family on Monday morning
The body of a 35-year-old man suspected of killing six members of his ex-wife’s family has been found in the woods a half mile from his suburban Philadelphia home, a prosecutor says.
Montgomery County district attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said police found Bradley William Stone’s body in a wooded area as police conducted a block by block search of the area around his home, at about 1.40pm in New Hanover Township. She said Stone died of self-inflicted “cutting injuries,” but was unable to elaborate on his injuries or the weapon use.
“This is just a horrific tragedy that our community has had to endure,” Ferman said. “[Montgomery County is] quiet, there’s families, it just really a wonderful, family-oriented community. To have an event like this shatter the peace and tranquility of the area is really disturbing.”
Stone has been the subject of manhunt since early Monday morning. He allegedly killed his ex-wife Nicole Stone; her mother and grandmother, Joanne and Patricia Hill; and her sister and brother-in-law, Patricia and Aaron Flick, and their 14-year-old daughter Nina.
The Flicks’ 17-year-old son remains in “serious but stable” condition with wounds from a knife or other cutting object Ferman declined to identify. He was found with head and arm wounds in the family home on Monday. Ferman said the boy’s injuries were very severe, and that he’d lost fingers in the incident.
Police believe Stone embarked on the killing rampage very early on Monday morning. Nicole and Bradley Stone were allegedly locked in a bitter custody dispute over the couple’s five- and eight-year-old daughters. Bradley Stone had since remarried and had an infant child, and Nicole Stone was engaged over the summer.
Stone’s wife and infant child are safe, as are the five- and eight-year-old girls. Ferman said courts would ultimately determine the fate of the Stone’s two daughters.
On Tuesday, Ferman told reporters that investigators were feverishly collecting forensic science evidence associated with the rampage, which spanned three small Pennsylvania towns about an hour north of Philadelphia. At least seven law enforcement agencies are coordinating in the multitown investigation, including Pennsylvania state police, local agencies and the FBI.
Stone’s car and cellphone were recovered, and police searched his home, Ferman said. Police began autopsies of the six deceased members of Nicole Stone’s family.
Federal authorities had planned to plaster billboards with Stone’s image, and previously warned residents that police believe Stone was armed and dangerous.
A resident in Lower Salford township said they suspected foul play after seeing Stone leave his ex-wife’s apartment early on Monday morning with his two young daughters still in pajamas.
One neighbor, who did not want to be identified, told local news station ABC6 that she heard the children yelling, “Mommy, no! Mommy, no!” before seeing Stone leave with the children. Police found Nicole Stone, 33, dead inside. Stone’s daughters were later found safe with one of Stone’s neighbors, in Pennsburg.
Ferman later declined to say what kind of weapon was used in the killings.
Ferman described Stone as “armed and dangerous” in a press release on Monday. He is described as white, about 5ft 9in, 195lbs and probably wearing military fatigues. Ferman said Stone may have shaved his facial hair. Stone sometimes uses a cane or walker, but he may have discarded them, police said.
Stone is a former marine, who served as a reservist from 2002 to 2011, including a tour of duty in Iraq in 2008. He was honorably discharged.
Nicole and Bradley Stone were married in 2004 and divorced in 2009, and Nicole became engaged over the summer. Bradley Stone was remarried, according to the Associated Press. One neighbor said Nicole Stone often talked about the tense fight for custody of their two daughters.
“She would tell anybody who would listen that he was going to kill her and that she was really afraid for her life,” Evan Weron, Nicole Stone’s neighbor at the Pheasant Run Apartments in Harleysville, told AP.
“[Nicole] came into the house a few times, a few separate occasions, crying about how it was very upsetting to her,” Weron said.
The discoveries and subsequent manhunt shut down schools, some of which are still closed on Tuesday, and many of which are operating on a modified lockdown. On Monday, many residents near the crime scenes were forced to temporarily evacuate. A shelter-in-place advisory wasn’t lifted for some towns until almost midnight.
One nearby town was swarmed after the release of Stone’s description, after a Doylestown resident walking his dog reported a man of about 5ft 10in wearing military fatigues. The Bucks County Courier Times reported that the man “was confronted by a suspect carrying a knife”, who demanded the man’s keys. Police later said the suspect wasn’t Stone.
“[Stone] wiped out four generations,” Bill Audrey, a neighbor near Joanne and Patricia Hill told the Lansdale Reporter.
“We’ve been their neighbor and their friends for 25 years,” wife Lisa Audrey told the Reporter. “We know the family. We know the shooter. It’s just horrendous. And our kids are affected. It’s just awful.”
This is the second manhunt this year that has put Pennsylvania residents on edge. Eric Frein led police on a 49-day search before he was captured in Tannersville, about an hour away from Stone’s home in Pennsburg. Frein is accused of killing a Pennsylvania state trooper and wounding one more.
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