TACOMA, Wash. – The official causes of death for the former Warsaw couple found dead in a Tacoma, Wash., apartment on Saturday were determined to be a homicide and a suicide.
An investigator with the Pierce County Medical Examiner Tuesday afternoon said the immediate cause of death for Mary Hoffer, 41, was manual strangulation, a stab wound to the chest and blunt force trauma to the head. The death was ruled a homicide.
The immediate cause of death for Thomas Tuggle, 37, was a gunshot wound to the head and has been ruled a suicide.
Tacoma Police Department Public Information Officer Loretta Cool provided a news release Tuesday morning that stated that at 2:15 p.m. Saturday, Tacoma police responded to the 800 block of South Eighth Street to conduct a welfare check.
The caller was concerned about the well-being of a female friend who had not arrived for a meeting and had not called.
Police officers discovered two deceased people in the residence, later identified as Tuggle and Hoffer.
Detectives were called to conduct an investigation and members of the department’s forensics team responded to process the scene.
