A bag of beer helped link a McKees Rocks man to a double homicide in Stowe, in which he is charged in connection with the killings of his brother and his brother’s girlfriend, police said.
Police charged Timothy Gumm, 60, with two counts of homicide in the deaths of Christopher Gumm and Sally Sines.
Police discovered the bodies in a Liberty Street home shortly before 11:30 a.m. Thursday. First responders noted the man and woman, who were found lying atop one another, were “obviously deceased,” according to a criminal complaint.
Officers noted an Aldi bag with two 16-ounce cans of Coors Light in it under Christopher Gumm’s body.
An unnamed witness told investigators that Gumm had been at the witness’s home on Sunday, when the two bought a 12-pack of Coors Light at a Speedway convenience store, according to the complaint.
The witness said Gumm mentioned being upset that his brother and his brother’s girlfriend were living in their parents’ home, police wrote. Gumm said he’d seen Sines a week or so prior and she told him he had mail waiting for him at the house.
The witness said Gumm left with an Aldi bag of Coors Light cans, saying he was headed to get his mail, according to the complaint.
In an interview with detectives, Gumm first said he hadn’t been anywhere near the Liberty Street home, but later admitted he’d been in the area checking on his cat, which a neighbor was caring for, according to the complaint.
He said he checked the mailbox of his parent’s home, where his brother was living, and left, police wrote. He then changed his story and said his brother let him in and they had one of the beers together.
From there, Gumm said, he went upstairs and got angry that someone had broken into his father’s room, according to the complaint; he said that Christopher Gumm told him he “was sick of him” and started coming toward him.
Gumm said he pulled his black .38-caliber revolver and pointed it at his brother, first saying he thought his brother had a knife but then indicating he “wasn’t sure what he had, if anything,” according to the complaint. He said he fired one shot at his brother, and then Sines “jumped up from the floor,” and he shot twice at her as well.
According to the complaint, Gumm said he left the house and tossed his gun as he walked toward Pine Hollow. He drew a map of where he ditched it, and police would later find the gun in the rear yard of a home on Broadway Avenue, investigators said.
