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January 31, 2008

DCI looking at Tuttle death

By Dan Ehl - Managing editor

The wife of a Cincinnati man, whose Sunday death is being investigated by the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation (DCI) and Appanoose County Sheriff’s Office, denied there was any domestic abuse involved.

Casey Opperman said a TV report was wrong when quoting neighbors as saying there was possible domestic abuse involved. She said they may have been referring to an altercation she had with another woman at the Numa Station Saturday that left her with a fractured nose.

According to the Appanoose County Sheriff’s Office, they received a 911 call at approximately 3:30 a.m. Sunday from Opperman saying her husband had committed suicide.

An autopsy performed Monday by the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office determined Davis Tyler Opperman’s death was caused by a single gun shot wound to the head. The official manner of death has not yet been determined.

Casey Opperman said that during the night leading up to her husband’s death, they had been at the Numa Station. It was there that she was hit by another woman.

“It was not that big of deal,” she said.

The couple then went to Rocko’s Cantina. From there, they went to the emergency room at Mercy Medical Center - Centerville, where she was treated and released at approximately 2:30 a.m. Sunday.

“He would never, ever harm me,” she said Wednesday of her husband. “Tyler was a wonderful husband and loved his family and friends and me very much.”

Opperman said she had no comment about the death of her first husband, Brad Tuttle. “This isn’t about Brad,“ she said.



DCI looks at Tuttle death

The Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office, which investigated the Tuttle death, said the DCI requested the records dealing with Tuttle’s death, which they supplied this week.

A death certificate lists Tuttle’s death as suicide from a gunshot wound to the head at his Green City, Mo., residence July 1, 2006.  The death occurred at approximately 2:40 p.m.

That death was also investigated by the Missouri Highway Patrol.

Earlier in the week, Sullivan County Sheriff Bill Hayes said that he was satisfied that Tuttle’s death had been a suicide. He added they would reopen the case if new information warranted it.

Gayla Whitworth of Unionville, Mo., was a sister to Brad Tuttle. Whitworth said she and the rest of Brad’s family and friends still cannot believe he took his own life.

She acknowledged that her brother and sister-in-law were having marriage problems, had split on a couple occasions and had taken counseling.

“He loved her,” she said.

But toward the end, Whit­worth said, her brother had become “hardened” about his relationship with his wife, giving his family hope he would end their relationship.

“He had more things to live for than just her,” Whit­worth continued, noting he wasn’t “consumed 24/7” with her.

He did things with family and friends,” she said.

Whitworth noted that her mother had seen Brad twice on Friday the day before his death - once to install her mother’s water heater and later that evening at Thunderhead Lake. The couple were at the lake until Casey left with friends. Whitworth said her brother and his mother had the kind of relationship that he would have said something if he was really upset.

The family was so sure that Brad wouldn’t take his own life that they went to both the coroner and investigators. They were told that according to how the scene looked, how the body fell and where the gun was - that it fit with a suicide. She said family members were told that they had been watching too much TV.

She was critical of comments left on a local television’s Web site story dealing with Opperman’s and her brother’s death by people “who don’t know anything about it. It’s very hurtful to everyone.”

The news of the second death has brought back a lot of emotions for her and her family, Whitworth said, and they all feel grief for the Opperman family’s loss.



Tuttle coroner comments

The coroner for Tuttle’s death was Paul Ruschmeier, owner of the Schoene-Ruschmeier Funeral Home in Milan, Mo. In Missouri, a coroner does not have to be a doctor, but can also be a practicing mortician. The position is elected.

Ruschmeier said Wednesday that the determination in the cause of Tuttle’s death wasn’t rushed into. He noted before the cause of death was made, he met with the sheriff and with the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

As a mortician for more than 40 years, Ruschmeier said, he has found it common that survivors have a difficult time facing the possibility of suicide for family members.

“I still have a hard time understanding them,” he added.

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This week the Iowegian wants readers to think about the recent decision by the Centerville Municipal Waterworks Board of Directors to increase the fee for late payment of water bills. In a story published in Wednesday's Ad Express, board members announced a 10 percent late fee after two days late, a $50 red tag fee for accounts unpaid after seven days late and a $25 shut off fee, water service terminated after two weeks late. The board said the decision to increase the fees associated with late payment is to encourage customers to pay their bills on time. So, the question this week is, "Are these fees too much to ask for?"

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