CONNELLSVILLE, Pa. -- An autopsy has determined that a Connellsville man died of natural causes the same day his longtime girlfriend was found beaten to death in a separate residence in the same town.
State police had previously thought 63-year-old James Claybourne might have committed suicide in his McCormick Avenue home on June 1. Instead, the Fayette County Coroner found Claybourne died of a heart problem.
"The autopsy said there were no controlled substances in his body. Some alcohol was detected and the cause was the heart. I was a little surprised, but I wasn't relying 100 percent on the toxicology report anyhow," said Chief Ed McSheffrey of the Connellsville Police Department.
An autopsy had previously confirmed that 58-year-old Priscilla Harris died of blunt force trauma and her death has been ruled a homicide.
Police are still investigating a potential motive for Harris' killing, although they say Claybourne remains a suspect.
Relatives found Harris' body in her home on South Eighth Street as they were searching for her to tell her of Claybourne's death.
Police are trying to determine whether Claybourne killed Harris before he died. The woman's body was found about 6 p.m. that day, more than five hours after Claybourne's body was found.
"It's still on going. We haven't come to any conclusions yet. As I said, Mr. Claybourne is still a suspect in the homicide," said McSheffrey.
Police are awaiting results of testing from fingerprints and DNA on a dumbbell found near Harris' body.
Channel 4 Action News' Jennifer Miele is following this story. She reported family members said they don't care how Claybourne died, because he took the life of their loved one and so God took his.
"Personally, I don’t care how he died. All I care about is the grief he caused our entire family," said Harris 'cousin, Mildred Berger. "I can't see any reason why she would have to die a horrible death like that. What could a person do that bad to take another person's life?"
Family members said Claybourne is lucky to have died without pain and that Harris' children and grandchildren are devastated by her death.
"She was a nice, happy person -- would do anything for anybody. She was always a happy go-lucky person. Like I said, I just don't see the need for it," said Berger.
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