Tuesday, May 03, 2005
By Gabrielle Banks, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
 Rochester police officers escort Thomas Simich Jr. to his arraignment yesterday. |
After a brief standoff, police yesterday afternoon arrested a 46-year-old man who cannot hear or speak in the shooting deaths of his sister and brother-in-law at the family’s home in Freedom.
The shooting occurred in the home where the suspect, Thomas Simich Jr., lived with his parents, Thomas Simich Sr. and his wife, Dorothy, who are in their 70s. The parents, who were in the house at the time of the shooting and who also cannot hear or speak, fled the home after the shots were fired and were not injured.
Rochester police Sgt. Joe DeLuca said Simich became upset while family members were discussing the possibility of selling the family home so the parents could move to another location.
“It was about selling the house, and he wouldn’t have it,” said DeLuca.
DeLuca said an argument began and Simich Jr. grabbed a 20-gauge shotgun and, from close range, shot his sister in the back and his brother-in-law in the chest.
 Marilyn Simich Bergman (’80) and Steve Bergman (’78) |
The victims were identified as Marilyn Bergman, 43, and her husband, Steven, 46. Like Simich and his parents, they could not hear or speak. They were visiting from Palm Bay, Fla. DeLuca said Simich Sr. and his wife tried to get help from the next-door neighbor but had difficulty explaining what had happened.
Due to the communication problems, paramedics responded to a call from the neighbor that somebody at 3291/2 Fifth Ave. was having difficulty breathing. When they arrived at the scene, they found the body of a male gunshot victim at the threshold to the house.
They found Simich’s sister inside, and rushed her to Beaver Medical Center where she died shortly afterward.
Police then converged on the scene, fearing they may be facing a hostage situation. DeLuca said officers tried to communicate with the suspect by phone but to no avail.
After learning about Simich’s hearing problems, they summoned an interpreter from the Center for Hearing and Deaf Services in Pittsburgh and stayed outside. Simich, who is known around the neighborhood as “Tommy,” eventually came outside and surrendered without incident.
“He saw us out the window and surrendered,” DeLuca said.
DeLuca said police also had difficulty communicating the news to the victims’ four children, who also cannot hear or speak and who reside in Florida. They are ages 14, 16, 18 and 23.
Simich and his sister had grown up in the house overlooking the Ohio River. A neighbor, Merle Waddingham, said the family had lived there for more than 50 years.
A cousin, Richard Hudock, 38, said Simich Jr. taught him to play baseball and football and “was like a brother to me.” Hudock said he learned sign language when he was 4 years old, so he could communicate with his older cousin.
 Thomas Simich 1979 senior picture |
Simich Jr. did not have a job but was received disability. He also was an avid hunter and fisherman.
Freedom Mayor Donald Zahn, who lives two blocks away from Simich home, said he cannot remember the last time there was a homicide in the Beaver County community.
He knew the Simich family but he and several other neighbors said they kept to themselves.
“You live in a small town and a crime-free part of town and you never expect something like this,” Zahn said.