Weeks after a man was arrested for threatening to kill his wife, he was found dead outside his burning home in the Poconos. Now police and a state police fire marshal are trying to figure out what happened.
Officers and fire crews said they arrived at the scene mid-morning to find flames shooting from the home in Monroe County and the homeowner, David Hicks, dead outside, killed from an apparent gunshot wound to the head. A gun was found near his body.
Police said the fire broke out in the Mushroom Farms community just before 11 a.m.
"When we first arrived we had heavy fire throughout the whole house. We had fire coming out of all of the windows, starting to come through the roof," said Coolbaugh Township Fire Chief John Zwally.
Hours later fire crews were still battling live electricity lines while working to put out hot spots.
The fire chief called the home a total loss.
The state fire marshal was called in to investigate.
The coroner was also called.
"At this point we do have indications that it was a self-inflicted gun shot wound," said Lieutenant Chris Wagner of Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department.
Now police said they are trying to figure out if Hicks' death and the fire that destroyed his home are related.
"We will also be working with the state police fire marshal to determine whether the resident was deliberately set or not," Lt. Wagner added.
According to court records, Hicks was arrested earlier this month for assaulting his wife. In the criminal complaint, Doreen Hicks told officers her husband started to choke her and told her he would kill her if she tried to take his daughter away from him.
Hicks was charged with simple assault and harassment.
The incident is being called a tragedy by neighbors who said the family kept to themselves.
"Very nice, very nice. I didn't know them well, just enough to say hi," said neighbor Jean Knapp."
The Shawnee Tabernacle Church in Mount Pocono, where the Hicks family attended services, is now collecting donations for the family that has lost everything, including clothing for the 11-year-old daughter. To make a donation call 570-894-9650.
(Aerial photographs courtesy of Richard Kuban.)
Officers and fire crews said they arrived at the scene mid-morning to find flames shooting from the home in Monroe County and the homeowner, David Hicks, dead outside, killed from an apparent gunshot wound to the head. A gun was found near his body.
Police said the fire broke out in the Mushroom Farms community just before 11 a.m.
"When we first arrived we had heavy fire throughout the whole house. We had fire coming out of all of the windows, starting to come through the roof," said Coolbaugh Township Fire Chief John Zwally.
Hours later fire crews were still battling live electricity lines while working to put out hot spots.
The fire chief called the home a total loss.
The state fire marshal was called in to investigate.
The coroner was also called.
"At this point we do have indications that it was a self-inflicted gun shot wound," said Lieutenant Chris Wagner of Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department.
Now police said they are trying to figure out if Hicks' death and the fire that destroyed his home are related.
"We will also be working with the state police fire marshal to determine whether the resident was deliberately set or not," Lt. Wagner added.
According to court records, Hicks was arrested earlier this month for assaulting his wife. In the criminal complaint, Doreen Hicks told officers her husband started to choke her and told her he would kill her if she tried to take his daughter away from him.
Hicks was charged with simple assault and harassment.
The incident is being called a tragedy by neighbors who said the family kept to themselves.
"Very nice, very nice. I didn't know them well, just enough to say hi," said neighbor Jean Knapp."
The Shawnee Tabernacle Church in Mount Pocono, where the Hicks family attended services, is now collecting donations for the family that has lost everything, including clothing for the 11-year-old daughter. To make a donation call 570-894-9650.
(Aerial photographs courtesy of Richard Kuban.)
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