Officials: Woman found dead, man brain-dead

PITTSBURGH—A man accused of kidnapping his wife while he was under home confinement on charges he beat and abducted her two months ago has been declared brain dead following a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said Wednesday.

The Allegheny County medical examiner’s office said Wednesday that it had been “advised of the brain death” of Kevin Ewing, 47, and an autopsy was pending as Ewing remained on a ventilator until a decision about organ donation was made.

Ewing was in an undisclosed hospital after shooting himself in a West Finley Township barn, officials said. His 48-yearold wife, Tierne Ewing, was found shot to death in the same barn after state troopers surrounded it, ending a daylong manhunt Tuesday.

Ewing abducted his wife at gunpoint from his mother’s home, also in West Finley, near the West Virginia border, at about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, police said. Her car was found near a wooded area eight hours later, prompting a search that ended around 9 p.m. when police surrounded the nearby barn.

Tierne Ewing’s parents have questioned the way authorities handled charges against Kevin Ewing in the earlier case.

Tierne Ewing told police her husband beat and pistol-whipped her, spat on her, kept her hands tied with wire or duct tape and imprisoned in their home, often with a gun to her head from June 26 to July 8. Kevin Ewing also branded her legs with a piece of hot metal, according to a criminal complaint.

Tierne Ewing had staples—a home remedy—closing a cut on her head that she told police was the result of her husband hitting her with a wooden gun stock.