Pennsylvania Man Kills Wife, Then Dies by Suicide in Woods Behind Their Home
A Pennsylvania man fatally shot his wife in the early hours of Tuesday morning and was found dead in a wooded area behind their home shortly after, in what state police believe was a murder-suicide.
Ryan Hosso, 26, shot and killed his wife Madeline Spatafore, 25, at their residence on Graywyck Drive in Seven Fields Borough, a community north of Pittsburgh. He died from a single gunshot wound in a nearby wooded area. No motive has been officially stated and the investigation remains ongoing.
How Police Were Alerted
Authorities did not learn of the shooting through a 911 call. Instead, police received a call around 1:15 a.m. from Hosso's parents, who told dispatchers that their son had contacted them and said he had killed his wife at their home. His parents also reported that he was threatening to take his own life. Butler County dispatchers sent law enforcement to Seven Fields Borough based on that information.
When officers arrived at the home, they found Spatafore deceased inside from multiple gunshot wounds. Hosso was not at the residence. A search located him in a wooded area behind the house, in the neighboring municipality of Cranberry Township, where he was found dead from a single gunshot wound. Pennsylvania State Police said they believe the domestic incident was a murder-suicide.
Who Madeline Spatafore Was
Spatafore had recently entered the medical profession as an advanced practice provider. She was working in the neurovascular intensive care unit at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Medicine, according to the university's website. She completed her training in physician assistant studies at Duquesne University.
She and Hosso had known each other since high school. According to NBC affiliate WPXI, the two were high school sweethearts who graduated in 2018 and 2019 respectively. After years together, they married in Ohio in September 2024. At the time of her death, Spatafore was 25 years old and the couple had been married for less than two years.
A Multi-Jurisdiction Investigation
Because the incident unfolded across two separate municipalities, the case created jurisdictional complexity from the start. The shooting at the home occurred in Seven Fields Borough, while Hosso's body was found in Cranberry Township. Local officers initially responded before the case was handed to Pennsylvania State Police troopers.
Northern Regional Police Department Chief Bryan DeWick confirmed the incident appeared domestic in nature. Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Bertha Cazy said investigators planned to speak with neighbors to try to piece together a history of the couple's relationship.
"We'll be talking to the neighbors to try and get a history of what was going on and see if there was anything they noticed that was out of place," Trooper Cazy said. Investigators will also look into whether there were any prior incidents involving the couple, a standard step in domestic violence cases. The case joins a number of ongoing murder investigations from this week in which authorities are working to reconstruct events from the days and hours before the crime.
Seven Fields and the Broader Picture
Seven Fields Borough is a small residential community in Butler County with roughly 2,200 residents. The Graywyck Drive address sits in a quiet suburban neighborhood that Chief DeWick described as an unusual location for such a violent incident. Trooper Cazy said state police would be on-scene "as long as it takes to process" the area, noting that the multi-agency response adds time to any scene examination.
Pennsylvania State Police have not released any additional details about the relationship between Hosso and Spatafore beyond confirming that the investigation is ongoing. The University of Pittsburgh has not issued a public statement.
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