Guns seized from home of homicide suspect

Weaponry shown during court testimony

Mark Langlois appears in Lucas County Common Pleas Court Tuesday.

Multiple handguns, gun parts, and an abundant amount of ammunition seized from the home of Mark Langlois were shown to a Lucas County Common Pleas Court jury Wednesday during the second day of testimony in his aggravated murder trial for the alleged shooting death of his boss.

Toledo Police Detective Terry Cousino testified that eight handguns, including 9mm pistols – the type of firearm used in the slaying, were found in Mr. Langlois’ home during a search conducted shortly after his boss was found shot to death in his office.

Mr. Langlois, 51, is charged with alternate counts of aggravated murder and murder for the Jan. 27 death of James Schueler, Jr., 65, vice president and general manager of Forklifts of Toledo Inc. A former technician at the company, Mr. Langlois was working on the day of the shooting and quit his job hours after Mr. Schueler was found dead.

Detective Cousino of the department’s Scientific Investigation Unit testified about photos taken in Mr. Schueler’s office and throughout the company at 140 N. Byrne Rd. He noted that Mr. Schueler’s office showed no signs of a struggle.

The detective further testified that a search warrant was conducted on Mr. Langlois’ North Reynolds Road mobile home where a multitude of items were seized, including gun parts such as a silencer and scopes and the items and tools necessary to make ammunition. Detective Cousino said among the dozens of unspent bullets found were 15 boxes of 50 bullets each that were by the same maker as the shell casing found at the crime scene. The detective was one of three witnesses who testified Wednesday. Also testifying was David Cogan, an expert in ballistics at the Toledo police crime laboratory.

Assistant County Prosecutor Rob Miller told jurors during opening statements a bullet and shell casing were found on the floor near Mr. Schueler’s body. He said expert analysis determined although the shell was matched to Mr. Langlois’ gun, the bullet could not be matched.

During his testimony, Detective Cousino noted that a person with knowledge of guns could switch a barrel on a gun “easily in under a minute.”

Several Forklifts employees testified Tuesday about the day of Mr. Schueler’s death. Collectively, they created a timeline during which Mr. Schueler was seen alive in the early morning and found dead in his office at about 8:30 a.m. The witnesses testified that there was about an eight-minute period where there was no one but Mr. Schueler present in the front offices at the North Byrne Road business.

Defense attorney Dave Klucas asked jurors during opening statements to consider though several employees were at work that morning, no one saw Mr. Langlois enter or leave the front office area.

Before testimony began Wednesday, Judge Dean Mandros made several rulings on the admissibility of items taken from Mr. Langlois’ home. Several guns, ammunition, tools, and holsters were all admitted into the trial.

Additional witnesses are scheduled to testify Thursday before the jury of six men and six women.

Contact Erica Blake at:

eblake@theblade.com

or 419-213-2134.