A call for a welfare check sent troopers to a young couple's apartment in western Clarion County, authorities said.

Troopers who eventually answered the call in the early morning hours of April 26 reported finding nothing suspicious, according to police. They left.

But hours later, police were again called to the apartment on Main Street in St. Petersburg, after family members reported finding the bodies of 19-year-old Lexis Walker and 22-year-old Jeremiah P. Heller.

Investigators believe Heller shot his girlfriend of about a year before he turned the gun on himself. Walker, formerly of northern Butler County, was shot eight times; Heller once.

[naviga:h3]More details emerge[/naviga:h3]

While the investigation continues, more details have emerged about the suspected murder-suicide. But questions remain. Police cite the ongoing investigation and pending results of lab tests for declining to answer some of those questions.

“Once I get everything together and present it to the DA,” investigating officer Trooper Rod Hotchkiss said Friday, “then he'll make a final decision, 'Yeah, OK, yeah, everything's lining up to what we're thinking — that's what we're going to call it.”

“All preliminary evidence suggests that it's a murder-suicide,” Clarion County District Attorney Drew Welsh said at an April 29 news conference at the state police barracks in Clarion County. He has not returned a number of calls since then.

Police said they were not aware of any domestic-related problems between the couple prior to that day. Family of Heller and Walker said they, too, saw no signs of trouble.

Family members, concerned over not being able to contact the couple, went to their apartment April 26, police said. Walker's mother, April Walker of Franklin Township, told the Butler Eagle she got there about 11:10 a.m.

Heller's mother and stepfather already were there. They were knocking on the door of the apartment, but were getting no answer, Walker said.

She forced her way into the locked apartment, she recounted, and came upon the bodies at the top of the steps on the second floor.

Police were called about 11:20 a.m. and they got there around 11:30 a.m. They found the bodies and a handgun. They also initially saw three spent casings, according to an application for a warrant to search the apartment.

Heller and Walker both died of gunshot wounds, police said. No autopsies were conducted.

[naviga:h3]Nine spent shells[/naviga:h3]

On Friday, the Eagle obtained the inventory list of items that police seized during the search of the apartment. Those items included nine spent 9 mm shell casings and nine spent 9 mm bullets.

Also collected was a Glock 9 mm pistol and two magazines — one which was in the pistol. The gun was described by investigators as being “in close proximity” to both bodies.

Police said Heller had a single gunshot wound to the head. Police and Clarion County Coroner Daniel Shinglegate said Walker had eight gunshot wounds.

Shinglegate would only say the wounds were in a “range of places.” Hotchkiss said Walker had “multiple” gunshots to both the head and body.

Hotchkiss said police were “still verifying” who owned the gun.

During the search, police also seized two cellphones. Hotchkiss said one of them belonged to Heller and the other to Walker.

[naviga:h3]Checking phone data[/naviga:h3]

Police have obtained search warrants to scour those phones for data. Lab results of those forensic phone examinations are pending, Hotchkiss said.

Investigators administered gunshot residue kits on the hands of both Heller and Walker. But Hotchkiss noted that police were still awaiting a decision by Welsh if tests would be conducted.

The search additionally turned up a “handwritten document” that was found on a kitchen dinette in the apartment. Police believe Heller wrote the document, which they did not consider to be a suicide note.

“(It was) more of a note about his thoughts, his feelings and stuff like that,” Hotchkiss said. “There was nothing in there to indicate that he was going to do anything.”

Hotchkiss acknowledged that police got a 911 call about 12:20 a.m. April 26 to the apartment. The caller was a female friend of Walker's. The call was for a welfare check, he said. Police, however, have not disclosed any more information about the nature of the call.

The Eagle has been unable to contact the friend.

Troopers subsequently went to the home, but police have not said what time they got there. No communication was made with anyone at the apartment.

“The guys went out and they tried to make contact, knocked on the door and everything,” Hotchkiss said, “but never got any answer.”

He said the troopers “checked all the doors and windows and spoke to neighbors” as part of the response, but found nothing to indicate any problems or anything suspicious.

Hotchkiss, however, said he has not spoken to those other troopers, and declined further comment about the 911 call or the police response.

Signs of post-mortem conditions — rigor mortis and lividly — were used in part to come up with the estimated time of death — 12:30 a.m., said Shinglegate. The 911 call was another lesser factor in his ruling, he said.