Nikki Delamotte
photo credit: Jaqueline Bon

Ohio arts journalist Nikki Delamotte's death ruled a murder suicide

Investigators now believe that Ohio arts and culture reporter Nikki Delamotte was killed in a murder suicide, as WTOL11 reports. The thirty year old Cleveland.com journalist was found shot to death, along with her uncle, 67 year old Robert J. Delamotte, in a Perry Township, OH mobile home on Monday (11/12). The Wood County coroner confirmed on Tuesday that Nikki was shot three times – twice in the chest and once in the head – while Robert was shot once, in the head, and his wound appeared to be self-inflicted.

A statement from Perrysburg Township Police reads, “given the evidence and the observations made by the detectives and investigators in this case, it is believed that this is a murder/suicide. At this time it is unclear as to what the motive is but, we will be continuing to investigate in hopes of determining why this happened.”

The shots were fired with a Taurus .38 Special revolver, according to police, one of two handguns Robert legally owned. The second, a Ruger .380 semi-automatic, did not appear to have been fired.

Investigators believe the murder suicide took place between 4:15 PM on Sunday (11/11), when Nikki was shown arriving on security footage, and 9:30 AM on Monday (11/12). The footage showed no one else entering or leaving the premises after Nikki.

Melanie Hersh of Music Saves and former owner of Re/Dress Rachel Kacenjar set up a GoFundMe for memorial services for Nikki, and the care of her mother, boyfriend, and cats. A candlelight vigil is being held tonight (11/15), and an in-person fundraiser on Friday (11/16).