A Michigan man who hanged himself left behind a suicide note that led police to discover the body of his wife after she had been missing for five months.
Police found a suicide note in which Lockhart admitted to killing his wife on May 18 and drew a map by hand to show where he had disposed of the body.
Theresa Lockhart vanished on May 18. She worked as a high school Spanish teacher and the school reported her missing after she missed two days of work. The woman’s car was found at a local Park-and-Ride, but investigators did not find anything after searching the surrounding area.
Her husband’s note finally led police to her body about 50 miles from their home. A search party found the corpse partly buried after a heavy rain. The body was decomposed, but police said there were signs of wounds, leading to uncertainty about how the woman was killed.
“He did express remorse and asked for forgiveness,” Armold said.
Lockhart did not cooperate with police after his wife went missing. He refused the let investigators search their home, leading police to serve him with a warrant on June 7.
“He wasn’t very forthcoming with information,” Mullowney said. “To be truthful, he seemed rather lackadaisical in his attitude definitely not the attitude of a loving husband whose wife is missing.”
Lockhart has been arrested four times since his wife went missing on unrelated charges. He remained a person of interest in the case up until his death. Police believe he died up to 30 hours before his body was discovered in the Poplar Bluff Court home.
According to Mullowney, her sister met Lockhart through an online dating site in 2006 and married him in 2007.
Theresa Lockhart’s college friend spoke to her on the day she went missing and said that the couple was working through some issues.
“They were hitting a really rough patch,” Jen Zimmerman said.
Theresa Lockhart was well liked by her colleagues and students. In addition to teaching Spanish full time, she taught a leadership class, contributed to afterschool activities, and was an adviser for the school’s National Honor’s Society.
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