Best views, weather, etc. How to test them 👓 SC, Ala. sites look back Betty Ford honored
NEWS
Iraq War

Pa. killings suspect found dead with self-inflicted knife wounds

John Bacon, Gregg Zoroya, and Marisol Bello
USA TODAY
Handout combination photo of shooting suspect Bradley Stone released by the Montgomery County District Attorney's office (image on right modified by source to show possible altered appearance) a day after he allegedly shot and killed his ex-wife and five of her family members and wounded one additional family member of hers in several towns near Pennsburg, Pennsylvania, USA, 15 December 2014.  Reports indicate Stone's body was found in the woods near his home with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot.

Iraq War veteran Bradley William Stone was found dead in the woods near his home, two days after he was suspected of killing his ex-wife and five of her relatives and seriously wounding another outside Philadelphia.

Montgomery District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said the former Marine appeared to have died of self-inflicted "cutting wounds'' to the center of his body, though an official cause of death has yet to be determined.

She said a knife was found with his body about half a mile from his home in Pennsburg, she said.

The discovery of the body ended an intense manhunt for Stone.

Ferman said the victims suffered a combination of gunshot and cutting wounds.

Police gather at a staging area as they search for suspect Bradley William Stone, Dec. 16, in Pennsburg, Pa. Stone is suspected of killing his ex-wife and five of her relatives, amid a child custody dispute.

Authorities searched two days for Stone, 35, of Pennsburg, who police suspect fatally shot his ex-wife, Nicole Hill Stone. The couple were in a custody battle over their two daughters, ages 5 and 7.

One neighbor said Nicole Hill Stone feared her ex-husband. "She would tell anybody who would listen that he was going to kill her and that she was really afraid for her life," said neighbor Evan Weron.

The murders fit a disturbing pattern that show men are often the culprit when multiple relatives are killed. Most of the incidents involve parents who are divorcing and often in custody battles, says Kathleen Russell, executive director of the Center for Judicial Excellence.

Stone and his ex-wife divorced in 2012. He remarried, and she was engaged, but their fight over their children continued.

Stone's problems have been exacerbated because he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to court documents reported on by the Bucks County Courier Times. He has had three DUI arrests and was on probation for one conviction.

Ferman said that Stone was "getting some treatment'' for PTSD but provided no details.

Stone served in the Marines and the Marine Reserves from 2002 to 2011, including a combat tour in Iraq in 2008. He was discharged honorably as a sergeant. He won numerous awards and medals for his service.

It is not clear the impact that PTSD had on Stone.

Retired Navy captain William Nash, a psychiatrist, researcher and former head of the Marine Corps psychological health promotion and stress prevention services, says when someone acts on their impulses, it can lead to violence, particularly if the person is already angry or feeling hostility. PTSD can be a factor in that, but he notes that so can other stressors.

"Another issue is if this Marine actually engaged in combat and if his job entailed killing people, then it could be that another mediator, another facilitator, another thing that may have made it easier for him to make these bad decisions is that he already has learned how to kill," Nash says. "And that's a whole other separate thing from having PTSD, it's a whole other separate thing from stress.

"Most people have an aversion to taking life ... but if somehow that aversion is dulled, dampened for whatever reason, then it removes one of the obstacles, one of the social obstacles to actually acting on the impulses," he says. "It contributes to impulsivity."

A recent Defense Department health blog said that while violence typically does not occur among veterans with PTSD, some research suggests that combat veterans may be a greater risk for violent acts. A recent study found that persistent anger, a symptom of the illness, can lead to aggression and even severe acts of violence against family members or strangers. But most authorities say that more study is necessary on the issue of violence linked to PTSD.

Residents in nearby communities were asked to shelter in place, and some schools were closed Tuesday.

"Due to the fact that law enforcement still seeks the whereabouts of an armed and dangerous local resident, Upper Perkiomen schools will be closed on Tuesday, Dec.16th," a statement posted on the district website said. "The district attorney has asked that people in our area remain vigilant."

It was the second manhunt to grip Pennsylvania this fall. Eric Frein spent 48 days on the lam through the Poconos in the northeastern part of the state after he was suspected of killing a state trooper in September.

The rampage began at about 3:30 a.m. Monday at the Souderton home of Hill's sister, Patricia Flick. Flick, her husband Aaron and their daughter, Nina, 14, were killed. Their son Anthony, 17, was seriously wounded. Authorities say Bradley Stone then killed Nicole Stone's mother, Joanne Hill, 57, and grandmother Patricia Hill, 75,at their home in nearby Lansdale.

The massacre concluded at the Harleysville home of Stone's ex-wife at about 5 a.m., authorities said. The couple's two young daughters, who lived with their mother, were found safe with a neighbor.

A resident at Nicole Stone's apartment complex told TV stations she heard gunshots just before 5 a.m. and saw the suspect leave with Hill's two children.

"I opened the window and I asked him 'Is everything OK?' He just looked at me and said, 'She's hurt pretty bad. We have to leave. She's hurt.' And he just got in the car and left," the unidentified neighbor said.

Police later found the 33-year-old Hill dead inside the apartment.

"Stone should be considered armed and dangerous," District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said in a statement.

Monday night, a suspect matching Stone's description reportedly was involved in an attempted carjacking in nearby Doylestown, in Bucks County. The driver fired at the suspect, who fled into woods, according to WPVI-TV. The suspect was armed with a knife and wearing camouflage.

Bradley William Stone, 35, of Pennsburg, Pa., is being sought in the slaying of six people, including his ex-wife and her 14-year-old niece Dec. 15, 2014.

The two married in 2004 and filed for divorce in March 2009, court records indicated. Their divorce was finalized in December 2012.

He remarried last year, and neighbors said she became engaged over the summer. They had been in court earlier this month, with Bradley Stone filing an emergency petition for custody of their children.

Stone was treated for unspecified combat-related physical injuries, and was also receiving continuing treatment for PTSD, Montgomery County records show. Stone pleaded guilty in November 2013 to a drunken-driving crash. As part of his sentence, he was participating in a county rehabilitation program for veterans.

Contributing: Michael Winter, William M. Welch, USA TODAY; The Associated Press

Featured Weekly Ad