Police are still searching for a Painesville man in connection with the shooting death of a local teacher in Canfield Wednesday morning.
Investigators are calling the murder a crime of revenge between the suspect, Robert McLaughlin, 64, and the victim, Stacey Sutera, 40, who he's been convicted of stalking in the past.
Around 7 a.m., Sutera, a science teacher with the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center, was shot to death in the Carriage Hill townhouse apartment complex as she was getting ready to leave for work. Several neighbors heard the shots and called 911.
"I woke up, and I heard what sounded like shotgun blasts," said Canfield resident Ken Goehring. "I heard three, and then a momentary pause, and two shots were fired right after that."
Police arrived just after 7 a.m. to find Sutera lying in the parking lot of the Fairgrounds Boulevard complex. The Mahoning County Coroner's Office confirmed Sutera's identity Wednesday afternoon, and an autopsy is to be performed Thursday morning.
An all points bulletin was issued shortly after the shooting for McLaughlin, and an aggravated murder warrant was issued later in the day.
Witnesses at the scene Wednesday said it appeared the suspect shot at Sutera, who tried to get away only to crash her car into several nearby vehicles. He then opened fire a second time and then walked "calmly" away, got into a minivan and drove off. Sutera was found lying on the ground next to her car, the windows of which were all shot out.
"I started wondering like if there was a car or something," said one witness. "The engine exploded, so I looked out the window, and nothing. I see nothing unusual, and then I kept hearing it over, like repeatedly, so then I started freaking out."
McLaughlin had been convicted in late 2010 of stalking Sutera. Last November, he was convicted in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court of pandering obscenities and weapons charges from the same incident. He spent some time in jail, but was sentenced to probation and ordered to complete an anger management program.
Police said McLaughlin had been pursuing Sutera for months from his home in Painesville, harassing her where she worked.
"He would go about and leave these disgusting cards on windshields and saying thing about her and do cyber stalking," said local attorney David Engler, who is also an MCCTC board member.
After his stalking conviction, McLaughlin was named in a $1.5 million civil lawsuit filed by Sutera. People who knew Sutera said she had been fearful of McLaughlin and had installed security cameras outside her apartment.
Some of the crimes McLaughlin has been accused of include sending pornographic fliers out advertising that Sutera had "certain sexual proclivities" to local school districts, government offices and area businesses. When police searched McLaughlin's house in Painesville in 2011, they found photos of the victim, dozens of guns, pornography and computer equipment.
On Wednesday, police collected evidence such as cigarette butts from across the street from the complex, and said they possibly were connected to the suspect's position when he was waiting for Sutera.
Engler said the whole situation is tragic.
"The guy was stalking the heck out of this poor woman, and she had finally gotten justice," said Engler. "But now he's out, and he's the prime suspect, and this poor woman gets shot in her car."
Engler said Sutera was a beautiful person and a wonderful human.
"We're so sorry to her family, to our students at MCCTC, and also to staff members," said Engler. "This is a valued, trusted employee and a wonderful teacher, a beautiful human being, and our hearts are really broken."
Attorney General Mike DeWine and Canfield Police Chief Charles Colucci are asking for the public's help in finding McLaughlin. Agents from the Ohio Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) are assisting the Canfield Police Department with the case, which also involves the Mahoning County Homicide Task Force.
McLaughlin is a 64-year-old white male, who is 5'-10" and weighs 190 pounds. Investigators said McLaughlin is driving a rented gray Chrysler Town & Country van with Ohio license plate #EZE 9055.
If anyone sees McLaughlin or his vehicle, do not approach him because he is considered armed and dangerous.
Please call the BCI tip line immediately at 1-855-BCI-OHIO or the Canfield Police Department at 330-533-4903.
