Jack & Linda Myers' Farm

Author: Jewls Krueger

Jack and Linda Myers were a well liked couple who lived on a farm of about 40 acres in the rural eastern part of Darke County, Ohio. On the morning of March 27, 2003, both were found shot to death in their bed. The case drew statewide attention, in part because the couple's young great-grandson, who lived with them, found the scene and walked to a nearby church for help.

Investigators eventually charged Jack's 25-year-old son, Gregg Myers, who stood to inherit the farm and had recently lost his own home. He was convicted of two counts of aggravated murder and is serving life without parole.

Jack and Linda Myers

Jack Myers, 51, and Linda Myers, 55, had been married about seven years at the time of their deaths. Both had children from earlier marriages, and their blended family gathered often at the farm. Beyond farming, the couple ran a food market and pizza shop in the nearby community of Houston, Ohio, rented out residential properties they owned, and Jack bought and resold used cars, sometimes on credit. They were also raising Linda's young great-grandson, who lived in the farmhouse and, according to trial testimony, referred to them as his parents. Family and neighbors described the couple as generous and closely tied to their community.

Gregg Myers

Gregg Myers was Jack's younger son, 25 years old and living in Piqua, Ohio, in early 2003. Court records show he had no prior criminal history. He was, however, in serious financial trouble. His home had gone into foreclosure and he faced eviction, and he was a beneficiary of his father's will, standing to inherit the farmhouse and its land when Jack died. Trial testimony established that in the days before the killings, Gregg told a friend he intended to shoot his father and asked where he could get a gun.

The Murders

Sometime between roughly 3 a.m. and 9 a.m. on March 27, 2003, Jack and Linda Myers were shot while they slept in their first-floor bedroom. Jack died of shotgun wounds to the head and neck, and Linda died of shotgun wounds to the head. Around 9:15 that morning, the couple's great-grandson arrived at his preschool at the Oakland Church of the Brethren, about a mile from the farm, still in his pajamas and boots. He told staff that his parents "were melting" and asked for help. A family service worker called 911, and deputies from the Darke County Sheriff's Department responded to the farm.

The Investigation and Trial

The scene had been staged to look like a burglary, with nothing of value taken, so investigators first considered whether an evicted tenant or a disgruntled car buyer might be responsible. Suspicion soon turned toward Gregg. The day after the killings, a friend and former neighbor, Jon Helmandollar, contacted the sheriff's department and said Gregg had asked him about getting a gun and had spoken of shooting his father and inheriting the farm.

Physical evidence followed. Detectives learned that Gregg had bought a Winchester 12-gauge pump shotgun from a private seller for about $175 two days before the murders. On April 1, 2003, a matching shotgun was recovered from the Stillwater River, its serial number scratched off but partly restorable, with batting and tape wrapped around the barrel to muffle the sound. The next day, searchers found a trash bag downstream holding green athletic clothing, shoes that matched impressions left at the scene, spent shotgun shells, ammunition, and latex gloves. A fingerprint inside one glove matched Gregg. His girlfriend testified that he had left home unusually early that morning, and a neighbor reported seeing a minivan like his leaving the property before dawn.

Gregg was charged with two counts of aggravated murder and one count of aggravated burglary. His trial ran from April 21 to 27, 2004. Prosecutors sought the death penalty, but the jury recommended and the court imposed life imprisonment without parole on the murder counts, along with additional prison time for the aggravated burglary and for using a silencer. In 2006, Ohio's Second District Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction after Gregg raised ten claims of error, all of which were overruled. He remains incarcerated at the Marion Correctional Institution, where state records list his sentence as life without parole.

The Myers Farm Today

The Myers property sits on Martin Road in Adams Township, in the eastern part of Darke County, near the small villages of Bradford and Gettysburg and about eight miles east of the county seat, Greenville. The surrounding area is quiet farmland, a landscape of open fields and low-density homes. The property is private. Anyone drawn to the case is asked to view the area only from public roads, to avoid entering the property or disturbing the people who live nearby, and to remember that this remains a place tied to a family's loss.