AKRON, Ohio -- A mother and adult son whose bodies were found buried behind their burned-out home in an upscale suburb were killed with blows to the head, the medical examiner ruled Monday. Another son has been charged in the fire.
Autopsies showed Patricia Knudson, 64, died of blows to the head and her 42-year-old son, John, suffered fatal blows to the head and neck. Both deaths were ruled homicides by the Summit County medical examiner's office.
The bodies were found Saturday. The two had been missing for six days after fire destroyed their Hudson home, which had been foreclosed days earlier.
Michael Knudson, 39, who lived at the same address, has been charged with aggravated arson in the house fire. Police expect more charges as the investigation continues, according to Jody Roberts, a community spokeswoman.
Donald R. Hicks, an attorney who is representing Michael Knudson on the arson charge, declined to comment on Monday.
Bond was set at $1 million in the arson case and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for Wednesday in Stow Municipal Court.
At the Hudson Community Chapel, where the Knudson family had been members for at least 15 years, parishioners at an Easter Sunday service were upset by the killings.
Rev. James Colledge told his congregation about the deaths and asked worshippers to pray for family members, including Patricia Knudson's other son and a daughter.
"Pray for Katie and Ben and Michael," Colledge said. "You will do what you must do in their lives to encourage, hold and embrace."
According to Colledge, Patricia Knudson's husband, James Knudson, died after falling while working on windows of his home in 2004.
Neighbor Muntzra Qadri, a psychiatrist, said the deaths were shocking. "I was kind of scared that we had someone in our neighborhood that sick."
Michael Knudson had spent two recent nights at Akron's Haven of Rest shelter and was arrested on the arson charge on the second morning. He wasn't a regular, said Rev. Jeff Kaiser, director of the men's division.
The fire occurred two days before Summit County sheriff's deputies planned to evict the family. The house had gone through foreclosure and a sheriff's sale last August, court records show.
The house had been valued in county property records at about $600,000. The fire caused more than $400,000 in damage.
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