Forklifts of Toledo Executive Killed

A suspect has been charged with the slaying of a businessman whose body was found Thursday in a pool of blood in his South Toledo, Ohio office. Mark A. Langlois, 50, was booked into the Lucas County jail Friday night on a charge of murder.  He is accused of the shooting death of James Schueler, Jr., 65, Sylvania, whose body was found Thursday morning in his office at Forklifts of Toledo. Schueler was executive vice president and general manager of the company. His death is Toledo's first homicide of 2011.

Police said they discovered evidence linking Langlois to the crime and decided to charge him after questioning him Friday. They would not say if he confessed or what his connection to Schueler was. They also declined to say if they had located the weapon used in the killing. An autopsy performed Friday led to a preliminary ruling of homicide, said Dr. James Patrick, Lucas County coroner. Schueler died of a contact gunshot wound to the head, meaning the barrel of the firearm was touching the skin at the time of discharge, Dr. Patrick said. "The vast majority of such wounds are suicides," Patrick explained. "But occasionally they're homicidal, and when there's no weapon, you think much more seriously about homicide."

Patrick added that the direction of the gunshot was not what would be expected in a self-inflicted wound. Shortly before 9 a.m. Thursday, emergency crews responded to a report of an injured person at Forklifts of Toledo. A company employee had found Schueler on the floor in his office. By the time police arrived, the victim was taken by ambulance to the University of Toledo Medical Center, formerly the Medical College of Ohio Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Schueler was in the materials handling industry for more than 40 years. A graduate of Western Michigan University, he began his sales and marketing career at Procter & Gamble Co. Police did not find a firearm. Investigators conducted interviews late into the night and resumed them early Friday, Toledo police Sgt. Phil Toney said.

Update:

Bond was set at $750,000 Monday for a South Toledo man charged with fatally shooting a Sylvania man. Mark A. Langlois, 50, is being held in the Lucas County jail following his arraignment before Toledo Municipal Court Judge Michael Goulding.
Langlois is charged with one count of murder stemming from the death of James Schueler, 65, whose body was found Thursday morning in his office at Forklifts of Toledo. Police said Schueler was shot in the back of the head. The victim was the executive vice president and general manager of Forklifts of Toledo. Police have declined to say whether the two knew each other or what the suspect’s connection to Mr. Schueler was.

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