NEWS

Sheriff's office: Sentencing argument led to killing

Bethany Bruner
Reporter

NEWARK - Calls made to 911 from the scene of a murder-suicide on Thanksgiving Day indicated to police the shooter knew the victim.

On a 911 call obtained Tuesday by The Advocate, the son of Charles "Rick" Newman, 56, said a man called Dave Jarvis had previously worked for his father and had fired four or five shots inside Newman's Rosemary Lane home. The son fled into a wooded area when the shots were fired, according to the call.

"I don't know if my dad's dead or alive," the son said. "I took off running when I heard the gunshots."

A woman who knows the Newman family also called 911 and said she heard several loud "pows" before seeing Newman's wife fleeing the home.

The man who entered the home was later identified as 69-year-old Milton David Jarvis, of Heath.

The Licking County Sheriff's Office says an argument over Jarvis' sentencing hearing, conducted just two days earlier, led to the shooting.

Detective Lt. Brock Harmon said Jarvis had gone to the Newman's home and asked to speak to Newman, who wasn't home at the time.

Milton Jarvis

Harmon said Jarvis and Newman had known each other for "years and years," and Jarvis waited about 15 or 20 minutes until Newman got home.

The two then got into a "heated" argument, which Harmon said was related to Jarvis' conviction two days earlier, on Nov. 24, on two counts of trafficking in cocaine, both fifth-degree felonies. Jarvis had been sentenced to three years of community control and his driver's license was suspended for six months, according to court records.

At some point during the argument, Jarvis pulled a .38-caliber revolver and shot Newman multiple times before turning the gun on himself, officials said.

Both men were pronounced dead inside the home.

Autopsies performed by the Licking County Coroner's Office revealed Newman suffered three gunshot wounds to his chest, arm and head. Jarvis had a single, self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head.

Harmon said police have no information about where Jarvis got the gun, which he was not legally allowed to carry because of his felony convictions. Jarvis also drove to the residence, despite his driver's license being suspended as part of the sentence imposed Nov. 24.

The reason for the timing behind the shooting, two days after Jarvis appeared in court, is unknown. Harmon also said there is no definitive answer as to why Jarvis was upset with Newman in relation to the criminal case.

"Those answers will probably rest with him," Harmon said.

Jarvis had been convicted in 1999 of aggravated preparation of drugs for sale in Licking County and had served 17 years in prison after being convicted of murder in Indiana in 1980.

Newman was the owner of Newman Excavating, located in Newark. According to an obituary posted online, he is survived by his wife, Ramona; daughter and son-in-law, Amanda and Mike Martin; and sons Thomas and Christopher. Newman also is survived by two grandchildren and two sisters.

A funeral service for Newman will take place at 6 p.m. Friday at Reed-Egan Funeral Home in Newark. Visiting hours will be from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.