ARGOS — Police were told on Sunday — just hours before Jeromy Bostwick shot his wife and then himself — that he might be suicidal.

But when officers spoke with Bostwick, they thought he was "doing very well," according to a log entry at 6:51 p.m.

Police said Jeromy Bostwick shot his wife, Erica Liechty-Bostwick, twice around 8:30 p.m. Sunday at the Bostwick home in the 15000 block of Michigan Road.

He then fatally shot himself in the head with a handgun, police said.

The wife was initially taken to Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center Plymouth, then airlifted to Memorial Hospital in South Bend, where her condition remained critical Monday morning.

A Bostwick friend called Marshall County police at 4:55 p.m. Sunday, records show, asking to be notified if "something happened" to the man.

Later, a second friend contacted police to ask them to check on Bostwick’s welfare. The friend said he believed Bostwick to be suicidal, and added there could be a gun in the home.

A third friend contacted police at 7:33 p.m., asking them to contact him about Bostwick.

One officer spoke with Bostwick at 6:38 p.m. Sunday, records show. Two county officers were then dispatched to the home within minutes of each other around 6:45 p.m. Sunday.

Detective Sgt. Duane Culp, county sheriff’s department spokesman, said Monday morning it was his understanding that Bostwick was alone at the home at the time officers checked on him.

"The officer at the scene (who reported back to dispatch) indicated Bostwick was okay," Culp said. Officers spoke with Bostwick about 15 minutes, records show.

But, at 8:32 p.m., emergency dispatchers heard from Bostwick’s wife that she had been shot in the mouth and back and that her legs were numb.

She also told dispatchers that she heard another gunshot from within the home and didn’t know if her husband had killed himself or might still be armed inside.

Dispatchers kept the woman on the telephone line until responders from Argos police, county police, Indiana State Police and EMS secured the scene.

Bostwick was found dead inside the front door of the home, Culp said.

Culp said a divorce petition was filed July 9 in Marshall County. Records also show that Bostwick was receiving treatment at The Bowen Center.

The couple’s two small children, Culp said, were with a relative and not in the home at the time of the shootings.

He said the couple were living apart the time.

Culp did not identify the make or caliber of the handgun, and said the investigation continues.

Staff writer Anita Munson:
amunson@sbtinfo.com
(574) 936-2920