Suspect waited to call 911
A Butler man, suspected in the execution-style slayings of his live-in girlfriend and her teenage son on Christmas Day at their Butler home, apparently waited several hours before killing himself in the living room, investigators said.
While Debby Chuba, 55, and Andrew "Drew" Chuba, 17, lay dead of gunshot wounds to their heads inside the West Boyd Avenue house, Joel Bodley, 60, went outside and played in his yard with a pair of pet basset hounds.
He even wished neighbors a Merry Christmas before going back inside, dialing 911 and passing on a chilling message to the dispatcher: Tell police they'll find three bodies at the house.
Bodley then just after 3:15 p.m. put the pistol to his head, according to Butler police, and pulled the trigger.
Police have ruled the triple shooting a double murder-suicide; however, they have remained tight-lipped about their investigation.
Chief Tim Fennell, who is off this week, has imposed a news blackout on the case and told his officers not to say anything about the investigation.
Police said they continue to search for a motive and are awaiting final autopsy reports that will include toxicology results.
A non-police source who is part of the investigation reported Wednesday that evidence indicated Bodley, who was unemployed and had a history of alcohol abuse, shot Debby and Andrew Chuba as they slept.
But it appeared that Bodley, after shooting Debby Chuba, possibly waited four hours and maybe longer before shooting Andrew with the same .25-caliber pistol.
The apparent gap between when the victims were shot is based, in part, on rigor mortis, the stiffening of the body that usually comes and goes within 24 hours of death, said the source, who did not want to be identified.
Debby's body had the signs of full rigor, meaning she could have been dead for eight to 12 hours before police officers found her body in a second-floor bedroom.
Rigor was still setting in on Andrew's body, the source said, providing a clue that he was possibly dead for three or four hours before his body was found on the cement floor of the home's basement, the room where he also slept.
Autopsies revealed the mother and son each died of a single .25-caliber gunshot wound to the back of the head.
Summoned to the house, officers found Bodley on the first-floor living room couch, dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The pistol was laying near his body.Bodley died of a single gunshot to the right side of his head.The forensic evidence could help investigators nail down a more accurate timeline as to when Debby and Andrew died.Given that police believe Bodley made the 911 call that came in at 3:18 p.m., that means Debby could have been shot between 3 and 7 a.m. or so. Andrew possibly was shot between 11 a.m. and noon or a bit sooner.No one in the neighborhood apparently heard any shots come from the house that day.Bodley around 12:30 p.m. was in his yard with his dogs. He seemed to be enjoying himself, said Todd Kovach, son of Paul and Cathy Kovach, who live next door to the family."I said, 'Hi.' He just waved," said Kovach of Westmoreland County, who on Monday was at his parents' house for a holiday visit.About 2:30 p.m., less than an hour before police suspect he shot himself, Bodley made a quick stop at the Kovach house to wish their family a Merry Christmas."He didn't stay very long," Paul Kovach said. "He gave no indication anything was wrong. "I didn't see him that often, but he seemed fine as far as I could tell."Other neighbors remembered seeing Bodley outside Christmas morning and in the early afternoon. They also saw nothing odd about his behavior. He offered holiday greetings to others on the block that day.Neighbors told the Butler Eagle that Bodley for the past four or five years had been living with Debby, who worked as a nurse at St. John's Specialty Care Center in Mars, and Andrew, who hoped to join the U.S. Marine Corps next year.Bodley last worked at the Gateway Lodge resort in Cook Forest, Clarion County, according to acquaintances, as a security officer of sorts. Neighbors said he quit or lost his job about a year ago.While some neighbors suggested Bodley and Andrew did not like one another, most described the family as polite and friendly. However, many knew Bodley had a drinking problem and drank beer throughout the day.Steve Chuba, Debby's ex-husband and Andrew's father, holds an unflattering opinion of Bodley."He beat (Andrew)," said Steve Chuba, a resident/patient at the Butler Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Butler Township. "Debby was afraid of him."Police did not know of any recent calls to the family's home prior to Monday; however, they would not discuss what theories have emerged to explain the Christmas carnage.Meanwhile, funeral services for Debby and Andrew are set for tonight with private burials at a Mount Chestnut cemetery.Bodley's funeral arrangements were not immediately known. Authorities believe he has relatives in Clinton and Erie counties.
