Former Middletown man killed in his home

Detectives in Boardman Twp., Ohio are investigating the homicide of a former Middletown resident.

Chris Craft, 48, a 1984 Middletown High School graduate, was killed in his home Sunday afternoon, according to Boardman detectives. The police department received an emergency call around 1 p.m. Sunday, and when they responded, a male who answered the door showed police where Craft was located. He was sitting in front of a computer and died from a blunt force trauma to his face and neck, said Dr. Joseph Ohr, deputy coroner.

Ohr said there were no signs of a struggle.

Sgt. Michael Hughes said detectives interviewed several people, but no arrests have been made. Craft lived alone with three small dogs and his wife was living in Tiffin, Ohio for work, detectives said.

Hughes said it was the first murder this year in the township, which borders Youngstown.

Craft’s parents, Clarence Dale “C.D.” Craft, and Laura Sue Craft preceded him in death.

He has two sisters, Karen “Casey” White, of Middletown, and Lori Cresong, of Piqua.

On her Facebook page, White said when she was notified about her brother’s death that was “a phone call that no one on this earth would ever want to receive.”

She said her brother lives in a quiet neighborhood and his death was “a shocking discovery.”

She said detectives were at the home all night and the fire department pumped the water out the pool, looking for a murder weapon.

White said some of her brother’s friends spent the weekend in his home. She has no idea why someone would kill her brother.

“The heartbreak, the sadness, the anger, the questions are immeasurable,” she wrote.

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