Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Logan Township, PA: Murder-suicide reported

Two people are dead after a murder-suicide Monday in Logan Township, police said Tuesday.

Julie Rightnour, 29, was shot by her boyfriend, Jason Hott, 32, at the rental house the two shared at 3258 Homers Gap Road sometime after 7:30 p.m. Monday before Hott turned the gun, a 12-gauge shotgun, on himself, police said. According to Hott's Facebook page, he was engaged to marry Rightnour.

"We're not sure what transpired and there were no witnesses," Logan Township Police Chief Ron Heller said.

The pair were discovered by Rightnour's family members who went to the home after she didn't show up for work Tuesday. Police were called to the scene at 9:19 a.m., Heller said.

Hott had an extensive criminal history, mostly involving bad checks and theft-related cases, court records show.

In November 2004, Hott was shot on Second Avenue in Altoona by Angel Y. Vazquez after a night of drinking. After a jury deadlocked on a verdict for the shooting, Vazquez ultimately pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in that case and received a four- to eight-year state prison sentence for that and an unrelated case.

Funeral arrangements were pending. John C. Bolger Funeral Home Inc., Williamsburg, is handing the arrangements for Rightnour, according to a brief notice on page A7.

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