An Ohio man is the suspect in the death of a Strongsville teacher who was supposed to become his mother-in-law. Video reportedly shows the man acting as one of the victim’s pallbearers at her funeral.
Melinda Pleskovic, a 49-year-old sixth-grade teacher, was found dead in her home on Oct. 23, reports PEOPLE. She was shot and stabbed. Jeffrey Scullin Jr., who was engaged to Pleskovic’s daughter, was arrested on Oct. 31 and is being held on $1 million bond.
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Strongsville Police Chief Mark Fender said in a press conference that Scullin was one of two people to call 911 after Pleskovic’s death. The other was her husband, Bruce Pleskovic, who found his wife covered in blood when he came home.
Bruce told the 911 operator that there had been multiple break-ins at their home in the days before the murder. But police believe Scullin was the only witness to these alleged break-ins and it was really the suspect trying to gain entry.
When the 20-year-old Scullin called 911, he told the operator there weren’t any signs of a break-in. According to audio obtained by PEOPLE, he told the operator he took Pleskovic’s son and his daughter outside.
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“She has blood all around her,” Scullin told the operator. “I didn’t look. I just grabbed the child and left. There’s a lot of blood.”
Scullin and Plesckovic’s daughter are both 20 and have a daughter, according to Cuyahoga county court records, WOIO reports. They were going to get married on Oct. 28, but instead attended her mother’s funeral.
WOIO reports that video of the funeral shows Scullin was one of Plesckovic’s pallbearers.
During his court hearing on Friday, Scullin claimed self-defense, WOIO reports. He told detectives he grabbed a gun during an argument with Plesckovic, but he didn’t explain the stab wounds found on the victim.
image: Facebook/WKYC
