Suspect charged in city's 1st slaying of the year

1/29/2011

Mark A. Langlois, 50, of 340 South Reynolds Rd. was booked into the Lucas County jail last night on a charge of murder.

He is accused of the shooting death of James Schueler, Jr., 65, of Sylvania, whose body was found Thursday morning in his office at Forklifts of Toledo, 140 North Byrne Rd.

Mr. Schueler was executive vice president and general manager of the company. His death is Toledo's first homicide of 2011.

VIEW: Interactive Homicide Report

Police said they discovered evidence linking Mr. Langlois to the crime and decided to charge him after questioning him last night. They would not say if he confessed or what his connection to Mr. Schueler was. They also declined to say if they had located the weapon used in the killing.

An autopsy performed Friday led to a preliminary ruling of homicide, said Dr. James Patrick, Lucas County coroner.

Mr. Schueler died of a contact gunshot wound to the head, meaning the barrel of the firearm was touching the skin at the time of discharge, Dr. Patrick said.

"The vast majority of such wounds are suicides," he explained. "But occasionally they're homicidal, and when there's no weapon, you think much more seriously about homicide."

He added that the direction of the gunshot was not what would be expected in a self-inflicted wound.

Shortly before 9 a.m. Thursday, emergency crews responded to a report of an injured person at Forklifts of Toledo.

A company employee had found Mr. Schueler on the floor in his office.

By the time police arrived, the victim was taken by ambulance to the University of Toledo Medical Center, formerly the Medical College of Ohio Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Mr. Schueler was in the materials handling industry for more than 40 years. A graduate of Western Michigan University, he began his sales and marketing career at Procter & Gamble Co.

Police did not find a firearm. Investigators conducted interviews late into the night and resumed them early Friday, Toledo police Sgt. Phil Toney said.

-- Carl Ryan