Husband hanged himself in murdersuicide, was discovered by family

ROBBINSVILLE » A man found dead with his wife inside their township home from a murder-suicide had hanged himself, authorities said.

Investigators are still determining what led to the death of the wife, 57-yearold Pamela Gwozdz, a spokeswoman for the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office said Thursday.

Gwozdz — who was described as a mother and a “doting grandmother” of three in an obituary that left out her husband — was found dead along with husband, 60-year-old John Campbell, inside their Robbinsville-Edinburgh Road home on June 4. Authorities immediately suspected the couple died from a murdersuicide after they were discovered by a family member who knew right away they were gone.

“I just came to check on my in-laws, and they seem dead,” the man told the dispatcher on the 911 call, which The Trentonian obtained from the township through a public records request.

The man corrected himself: “Oh my god. They don’t seem dead. They are dead.”

The dispatcher prodded the man for details but he didn’t relay how he knew they were dead before ending the call when cops arrived outside the home.

The Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office concluded that Campbell died by his own hand after getting back results of his autopsy. It’s unclear what caused Gwozdz’s death as her autopsy is still pending, spokeswoman Casey DeBlasio said in an email.

On the call, the man sounded overcome with

emotion as he was connected with another dispatcher who asked him to stay on the line while help arrived.

The dispatcher tried to calm the man down, telling him to “slow down” when he stammered over his words, so she could try to get more information.

“I came to check on my in-laws,” the man told the second dispatcher. “My girlfriend told me to check on my in-laws before I went to work, and I came in, and I found them dead. Dead.”

The dispatcher told the man to “walk outside. Don’t let anybody in the house,” until cops arrived.

“Do you smell anything in the house?” the dispatcher asked, attempting to illicit details that might give investigators clues about what happened to

the couple.

The man was silent before telling the dispatcher the cops were there.

“Ok, sir, but I need you to talk to me,” the dispatcher responded. “Did you smell anything when you were in the house?”

He told the dispatcher he hadn’t smelled anything.

“And neither one of them were breathing?,” the dispatcher asked.

“I don’t think so. I didn’t even go that far,” the man responded.

Little is known about the couple or what led to their violent demise.

A neighbor previously told The Trentonian the couple was hermits and kept to themselves.

“I’m here most of the time and I rarely see them outside,” the woman said.

Gwozdz’s obituary alluded

to the couple’s blended family, mentioning children and stepchildren.

Gwozdz was born in Napolean, Ohio, and moved to Plainsboro, New Jersey, where she lived for some time.

She graduated from Hackettstown High School in 1979 and went on to earn an associate’s degree from Texas State Technical Institute, the obituary said.

Gwozdz opened and ran a business, Signs of Tomorrow, for a decade. She loved the outdoors, posting pictures on Facebook of herself with landscapes as the backdrop. Her interests included yoga, hiking and golfing. Her relatives didn’t respond to a message.

The couple had put up their 2,190-square-foot home on the market in May asking for $505,000.