Note for: Robert Garten, - 17 NOV 2007 Index
Individual Note:
MURDER/SUICIDE THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH November 19, 2007 
Like most Saturdays, Robert Garten was out early this weekend mowing the lawn of his home near Pickerington.
He put the yard waste in recyclable bags, which he lined up neatly on the side of the two-story brick and stucco house.
Garten, 43, and his wife, Sara, 45, then spent part of the afternoon at a neighbor’s house watching the Ohio State- Michigan game.
Hours later, deputies found Garten, his wife and his 15-year-old stepdaughter, Valorie McCrerey, along with the family beagle, Snoopy, dead in their home at 13568 Capetown Ave. off Rt. 204 in Violet Township.
Investigators said that Garten fatally shot his family, then himself.
“Something snapped in his mind,” said Lt. Gary Kennedy of the Fairfield County sheriff’s office. “Something went terribly wrong.”
A neighbor said she heard what she now thinks were five or six gunshots about 8 p.m. Saturday.
A few hours later, Mr. Garten’s brother, who lives in the Cleveland area, called the sheriff’s office to say he was concerned about the family. The brother said he had talked to Mr. Garten on the phone earlier but was unable to reach him again.
Kennedy said deputies checked the house and found the doors locked and nothing unusual. At the urging of Mr. Garten’s brother, they returned about 2:30 a.m. That time, they looked in the windows and saw a body on the kitchen floor.
Deputies found Mrs. Garten and Snoopy in the kitchen. Valorie, Mrs. Garten’s daughter from a previous marriage, was in her upstairs bedroom. Mr. Garten was in his bedroom nearby.
All four died of apparent gunshot wounds, Kennedy said. Two guns were found in the home.
Stunned and saddened, neighbors watched from their windows and driveways yesterday as authorities brought one body bag after another out of the house shortly before noon.
Friends who declined to give their names said that if the couple were having marital problems, it was not apparent.
Kennedy said deputies had never been called to the home for a problem.
“They were perfectly normal,” one neighbor said. Another said that when his family recently moved in across the street, Mr. Garten was the first one to introduce himself and offer help.
According to state records, the Gartens married in 2001. It was his second marriage and her third.
They moved into the quiet neighborhood just south of I-70 a little more than a year ago from Reynoldsburg. Neighbors said Mr. Garten worked in computer technology and had just returned this past weekend from a business trip to Italy.
Mrs. Garten worked for the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission, a state agency that helps the disabled find work and independence.
Valorie was a sophomore at Pickerington North High School, where a neighbor said she was on the honor roll. She baby-sat a neighborhood boy after school.
Mrs. Garten enjoyed crafts and made holiday decorations for her friends. The family’s front yard was decorated with pumpkins, cornstalks and scarecrows for the holidays. A small flag of a beagle flew from the front porch.
“Everything seemed fine,” said a neighbor who watched the football game with the couple. “It just seemed fine.”
Note for: Valorie Kate McCrerey, 30 DEC 1991 - 17 NOV 2007 Index
Individual Note:
Born Columbus, OH at 11:30PM weight 7 lbs 11 oz 19 inches long
Murdered by her step father, Robert Garten.
Individual Note:
Born Columbus, OH at 11:30PM weight 7 lbs 11 oz 19 inches long
Murdered by her step father, Robert Garten.
Note for: Earlie McVicker, - Index
Individual Note:
Twin of Mearlie.
Individual Note:
Twin of Mearlie.