Audio clip
Tim Carroll
Homicide suspect Kenneth Gann not only strangled his wife to death, he had been digging “what appeared to be a possible grave” for her in a crawl space in his Hixson basement, police said.
“It was about 2 feet wide, and at its deepest maybe a foot or so down. And it was long,” said Chattanooga police Lt. Tim Carroll, head of the department’s major crimes division. “There was a shovel there, and lights set up, and water bottles and stuff. It was just odd-looking.”
Investigators have not confirmed the hole’s intended purpose nor are they sure how long Mr. Gann had been working on it, Lt. Carroll said. But they believe the 23-year-old killed his estranged wife, 25-year-old Robyn Burns Gann, during a domestic struggle early Sunday morning at the home they once shared at 3811 Forest Highland Drive.
Mr. Gann then attempted to take his own life by taping a plastic bag over his head, according to police spokeswoman Sgt. Jerri Weary.
He was resuscitated and had regained consciousness by Sunday evening. He still was recovering Monday at Memorial North Park Hospital, Sgt. Weary said.
Investigators have obtained a criminal homicide warrant for Mr. Gann but on Monday were waiting for him to undergo a mental evaluation before booking him into the Hamilton County Jail on the charge, Lt. Carroll said.
Family members had told police that Mr. Gann “has recently been suffering from mental issues and was seeking evaluation” before Sunday’s incident, according to Sgt. Weary.
Mr. Gann was identified as a suspect in his wife’s death immediately, according to Lt. Carroll, because there had been no forced entry to the home before the officers’ arrival. Inside, he said, there were “obvious signs that there was a struggle.”
The cause of Mrs. Gann’s death was not immediately clear to investigators, but an autopsy report completed at the Hamilton County medical examiner’s office on Monday officially ruled it a homicide by “manual strangulation.”
She leaves behind a 2-1/2-year-old son, who was at her parents’ house at the time of her death, according to police reports. Her father declined a request for an interview on behalf of the family Monday.
Neighbors said they did not know the Ganns very well, as they were newcomers to the area.
“They had just moved here not too long ago,” said James Matthews of 3808 Forest Highland Drive. “I didn’t know them because they hadn’t been there.”
Mrs. Gann is the city’s third homicide victim this year and the second wife to die at the hands of her husband in a murder-suicide attempt, according to police. All three homicides in 2008 have involved domestic situations, according to police.
Deborah and Lester Anthony Roden, both 48, were found dead in their East 49th Street home Jan. 13, Mr. Roden apparently having shot his wife to death before fatally shooting himself.
Willie McClure, 47, was shot to death Jan. 16 in what police believe was a fight between two jealous boyfriends at their girlfriend’s Heaton Street home. Paul Bell, 59, has been charged with criminal homicide in connection with the incident.
TIMELINE
Between 11 p.m. Saturday and 12 a.m. Sunday: Robyn Burns Gann was last seen alive by her sister.
3:37 a.m. Sunday: Police responded to 3811 Forest Highland Drive to find Mrs. Gann deceased; Mr. Gann, with a plastic bag over his head but still breathing, was rushed to Memorial North Park Hospital.
Sunday evening: Mr. Gann regained consciousness.
Monday morning: Police announced they had taken a warrant out for Mr. Gann for criminal homicide as he remained at the hospital; the Hamilton County Medical Examiner’s Office began Mrs. Gann’s autopsy.
Monday afternoon: The medical examiner released autopsy results, officially ruling Mrs. Gann was a homicide victim and had died of manual strangulation.
Source: Reports from Chattanooga police and the Hamilton County Medical Examiner’s Office
