Police: Seven Fields couple identified in apparent murder-suicide
SEVEN FIELDS — A husband and wife died in an apparent murder-suicide early Tuesday, April 28, in the area of Graywyck Drive, according to state police.
Ryan Hosso, 26, called his parents and confessed to killing his wife, Madeline Spatafore, 25, before taking his own life, said Trooper Bertha Cazy, state police public information officer.
Northern Regional police received a call around 1:15 a.m. from the parents of the man who said their son admitted to killing his wife at the Graywyck Drive home. The parents reported the man was in a wooded area nearby threatening suicide, Cazy said.
Police responded to find the woman dead with multiple gunshot wounds. They then searched the area and found the man dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in nearby Cranberry Township.
The man’s parents live outside the state, but worked to find a local police department to call, Cazy said.
Northern Regional Police Department Chief Bryan DeWick said the incident appears to be a “domestic situation.” He said the man was located in the woods nearby with the use of thermal drones following about an hourlong search.
DeWick said there is no public safety threat.
Butler County Coroner Korynne Young said her office responded.
As state police crime and forensics units gathered evidence at 8 a.m. at the Graywyck Drive home, Seneca Valley School District students nearby waited to board the bus to school.
“It’s scary for it to happen that close,” said Matt King, a neighbor inquiring about the police presence.
King said his family moved to the area from Pittsburgh in January for a safer environment for his children. Another neighbor said they had lived in the neighborhood for 10 years and had never seen anything like this.
Seeing the commotion and heavy police presence, multiple parents decided the morning would be a good day to walk with their children to the bus stop at the bottom of Graywyck Drive and across the street on Jameson Way.
One mother said she kept her son occupied and distracted while they waited at the bus stop. She said when she left for work this morning and learned what police were investigating up the street, she postponed going to work for her child.
Some parents had kept their children inside until the bus arrived at the stop. It appeared to cause some confusion for the bus driver, who began pulling away from the stop, but stayed when three more students came running down Graywyck Drive.
