Economy man kills wife in front yard, turns gun on himself

By Michael Pound, Times Staff

ECONOMY — Kerrie Monroe thought she was looking at the aftermath of a party.

What the newspaper carrier saw instead on Sunday morning were the results of a murder-suicide that left two Economy residents dead.

Monroe, an Economy resident who has been a carrier for The Times for “years,” said she saw two people lying in the front yard of a home at 930 Second Ave. in Economy while she delivered papers from her car Sunday morning.

“I was wondering if they were passed out,” said Monroe, who backed up her car and approached a neighbor who had been a longtime customer. “But when we walked up and got a closer look, we saw that something was not right.”

Around 8:30 a.m. Sunday, Monroe found the bodies of 34-year-old Sean Wain and 33-year-old Natalie Wain, both sprawled in the yard in front of their two-story home. Economy Police Chief Thomas Harrington said Sean Wain shot Natalie Wain twice, in the torso and the head; Sean Wain had a single wound to his head, and his body was lying on the shotgun that was used in the killings.

Harrington said officers who responded to the 911 call placed by Monroe’s customer also found three of the couple’s four children, all unharmed, inside the house.

“When you hear there are kids in the house, your heart just sinks, because you don’t know what you’ll find,” Harrington said. “Thankfully, the three kids who were home were all fine.

The fourth child, the couple’s oldest daughter, had spent the night at a friend’s home, Harrington said. All four children, who range in age from 10 to 15 years old, are staying with nearby relatives.

Harrington said Economy officers, Beaver County detectives and county District Attorney Anthony Berosh determined pretty quickly that Sean Wain shot and killed Natalie Wain before turning the shotgun on himself. Beaver County Coroner Teri Tatalovich-Rossi said she made the same ruling.

Harrington said police believe the incident occurred shortly after 5 a.m. Sunday; neighbors reported hearing shots or fireworks in the area but thought they were associated with a party that was going on nearby.

“We had guys come through the neighborhood to check things out, but they didn’t see anything,” Harrington said, noting that the Wains’ house is shrouded by a large tree in the front yard. “It was just too difficult to see anything at that point.

Harrington said that to his knowledge, Economy police hadn’t ever responded to the Wains’ home for a reported domestic incident; he added that his officers would continue talking with neighbors and relatives, to see whether they can make a determination about the cause of the shootings.

“You hope you figure something out,” he said. “But it may be that we never know.”