By JESSICA SIEFF
Edwardsburg Argus

HOWARD TOWNSHIP – Almost one week after the bodies of John Tarwacki, 42, and his wife Carolyn, 39, were found in their Howard Township home in the 900 block of Carberry Road last Friday, police -who have been especially tight lipped about details surrounding their death, ruled a double homicide – are addressing the public as much as they can in the hopes for help in catching the couple’s killer.

According to information provided by the Michigan State Police, Niles Post Tuesday, detectives working the case have fielded over 100 leads in the case – but have yet to identify a suspect.

“Progress has been made eliminating several persons of interest over the past three days,” Det. Sgt. Fabian Suarez said. “The family of the Tarwackis has been very helpful and open with investigators.”

Police continue to look for a person of interest they say a witness had seen in the early hours of Friday morning. That person is being described as a white male, brown hair, 20-30 years old with a medium build.

“Investigators have pieced together a timeline,” said Lt. Michael Brown of the Michigan State Police Niles Post. That timeline was developed based on the last contact that was had with the victims and where they were supposed to be that morning and when.

Based on that timeline, Brown said he wanted to clarify that the “suspect was definitely walking on Yankee Street at least twice. Once while it was dark, between 6 and 6:45 a.m. and once later on between approximately 7:30 and 8:39 a.m.”

At approximately 12:45 p.m. Friday, Michigan State Police and the Cass County Sheriff’s Department responded to the home, where the bodies were discovered by a family member who had apparently gone to check on Carolyn, a regional representative for Stevensville location of the music company Quinlan and Fabish, after one of the victims failed to show up for a scheduled appointment.

Motorists who might travel down Oak Street heading in or out of Niles in the hours between 6:30 and 8 a.m. are being asked to think back to Friday morning and whether or not they had noticed anything suspicious.

Through interviews and visits with family, friends and acquaintances, Brown said police are narrowing down their list of persons of interest, eliminating three or four people off of the list so far.

But Detective John Slenk also with the Michigan State Police out of Paw Paw said the Tarwackis were targeted and the killer could very well still be in the area.

“I’m not a betting man,” he said Tuesday. “But I would bet this person is still in the area.”
Slenk, who helped in solving the cold case murder of Janet Chandler, the Hope College student who was raped, tortured and murdered some 28 years ago, said investigators are currently focused in on a method he calls “victimology,” finding out everything about the victims, every detail possible in order to determine the killer and the motive.

“The victims will point you to their killer or killers,” Slenk said.

As authorities have not identified a suspect within the first 48 hours, Slenk said the process of victimology has become even more important.

“We’re doing everything we have to do,” he said. “Once I understand the motive, I’m going to know who killed them.

“Something made someone very angry,” he added.

Turning over every rock, Slenk said the investigation could take time and he and Brown have asked for the public’s patience and cooperation.

Anyone who knows the couple or has any information that might help in the investigation is urged to contact the Michigan State Police Niles Post at 683-4411 immediately.

Remembered as ‘soul mates’
A candlelight vigil was held for the couple at the Four Flags Apple Festival Grounds on Monday night, where hundreds turned out to remember two people who were actively involved in musical education and touched many lives.
Carolyn and John Tarwacki were both employed by Quinlan and Fabish, John, a former U.S. Navy submarine engineer, staying in house at the Stevensville location and Carolyn making regular visits to an estimated 15 school districts.

The two married in 2007.

The minute they married, Niles band director Steve Gruver, a longtime friend, said, “it wasn’t just Carolyn. It was John and Carolyn. They were together.”

Prior the vigil, organizer, former classmate and friend Mike Salisbury remembered Carolyn as “an unbelievable person.”

“She had the right words” to lift a person out of a tough time, he said, and he called her “the definition of a true friend.”

Reaction to the news of the Tarwackis’ death has been shock and disbelief at such a brutal crime being committed against a couple so dearly loved by everyone who knew them.

“Basically everyone is in awe still,” Salisbury said.

Salisbury found out the news via Facebook. Police had been working the scene for much of Friday, but news spread over the social networking site quickly and he said he’s continued to keep in contact with friends through the site.

“I just ran in to her a week and a half ago,” he said. “It was one of those ‘hi,’ ‘bye’ things where I thought we’d have time later on.”

Aside from Tarwacki’s job, which brought her to 15 school districts each week picking up and dropping off instruments in need of repairs and delivering other necessities to band students, Gruver said Carolyn was a presence, someone who went out of her way to help bring something she loved so much – the gift of music – and put it in students’ hands.

She helped Gruver run band camps and other activities.

When she walked into the room, Gruver said, he’d have children get up in the middle of class to greet her with enthusiasm and hugs.

“Everything she did was about the kids,” he said. “She’s going to be sorely missed.”
Gruver has known the couple since they got together and Carolyn for over 10 years. His children call them Aunt Carolyn and Uncle John.

“She always put others in front of herself,” he said. “She was a great, great friend.”
Her husband was quite the match, Gruver said.

“John had the same pleasant, happy, bubbly, personality, just like Carolyn,” he said.
“They were the definition of soul mates,” Gruver said. “That’s what they were.”