Police: Murder suspect from Painesville kills self on mother's grave site

CLEVELAND - The Lake County Sheriff's Office confirmed the Painesville man suspected of killing a 40-year-old Canfield teacher Wednesday was found dead Thursday.

Robert McLaughlin, 64, was wanted for aggravated murder in the shooting death of Stacey Sutera in Mahoning County, according to Attorney General Mike DeWine and Canfield Police Chief Charles Colucci.

The Ashtabula County Sheriff's Office said McLaughlin's body was found at his mother's grave site in the Old Unionville Cemetery located in Harpersfield Township. McLaughlin apparently died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Colucci said McLaughlin wrote a suicide note before the murder, which police found in a Painesville storage unit. The note detailed his plan to kill Sutera and himself.

Sutera’s murder comes one year to the day that she filed a civil lawsuit against McLaughlin, Colucci said. McLaughlin had already served prison time for an incident involving Sutera, but when new charges were filed she agreed on probation and taking civil legal action.

Colucci said there were several strange events leading up to Sutera’s death, including emails and pornographic material in the mail. He said that McLaughlin even keyed Sutera’s car, then posed as a family friend and helped pay for the repairs.

Continue to check newsnet5.com for more details on this developing story.