NEW HAVEN REGISTER West Haven
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Tue, 06 Sep 1994
A bloody holiday; Couple gunned down at W. Haven cemetery
Allan Drury
A brother and sister in their 70s were shot to death at St. Lawrence Cemetery Monday moments after placing flowers on the woman's husband's grave.
The victims were gunned down just before 3 p.m. only a couple of hundred feet from houses on Oak Road off busy Forest Road in what police believe was abrazen double homicide.
Police identified the victims as Gladys Punch, 72, of West Haven, and Warren Tarkington,76, of Queens, N.Y. They were visiting the grave of Punch's husband, police said.
Police late Monday released descriptions of two suspects who were spotted leaving the scene. They said the motive may have been robbery.
The suspects were described as black males, both about five feet, eight inches tall and 17 to 20 years old. One had a stocky build, while the other was thin, police said.
No pocketbook or money was found on Punch, whose street address was not available. A wallet containing an undisclosed amount of money was found on Tarkington. "Anything is possible," said Police Chief Michael Kelly.
They were the first homicide victims in the city this year, police said.Kelly said someone visiting the cemetery on the Labor Day holiday found the victims and called 911. Tarkington was dead when officers arrived, while the woman died at Yale-New Haven Hospital, Kelly said.
Tarkington was shot in the head and Punch in the back, Kelly said. Neighbors reported hearing three shots and detectives found three bullet casings on the ground.
An autopsy at the state Medical Examiner's office in Farmington will be performed today,Kelly said.
A blue Pontiac that Kelly said was registered to one of the victims was parked on the drive only a few feet from the bodies. Police combed the car and grounds near the bodies for evidence.
"There is some physical evidence," Kelly said, but he would not specify what investigators found.
Kelly said the distance between the bodies and the fact that no weapon was found led investigators to all but rule out the possibility that a murder-suicide had taken place.
Kelly said they believe the assailants used a "mid-caliber" weapon.
"The entire setup is not indicative of a murder-suicide," he said.Fresh flowers on the grave of Punch's husband indicated the victims were in the cemetery on Labor Day to pay their respects when they were attacked, police said.
Tarkington was shot at close range, Kelly said. He was not sure about Punch. The shootings probably took place only "a matter of minutes" before the passerby found the victims, he said.
Armestine Graham, of 22 Oak Road, said she heard two rapid shots and then a third shot about 15 to 30 seconds later while she was in her home. "I heard three shots and I walked to the door and looked in the direction where the shots came from," she said. "I thought I would see a car leaving or hear someone calling for help, but I didn't see a thing."
There was no evidence that the victims struggled with their assailant, Kelly said.
