In December of 2014, in the quiet community of Marianna, Pennsylvania, 47-year-old female Julie Anne Bottles was found deceased in her home in what authorities would later describe as a tragic murder-suicide. Her body was discovered on Tuesday, December 16, 2014, inside the double-wide mobile home she shared with her live-in companion on Patterson Run Road. The grim discovery was made after a friend, unable to make contact, forcibly entered the residence and found Ms. Bottles deceased on a bedroom floor.
Responding authorities also located the body of her 49-year-old companion, Curtis Michael, in the same room. The Washington County Coroner determined that both individuals had died from gunshot wounds. The investigation led authorities to believe that the incident occurred sometime between the evening of Monday, December 15, and the morning of Tuesday, December 16. The initial conclusion of the investigation was that Michael had shot and killed Bottles before turning the gun on himself. A weapon was recovered at the scene.
Julie Bottles was a mother of five and a grandmother to eight. Her family remembered her as a free spirit with a strong love for life, who particularly enjoyed the outdoors and hunting. Her daughter recounted that her mother had seemed happy in her relationship with Michael, which had lasted for about three years. However, in a conversation just a week before her death, Julie had asked her daughter if she could come stay with her, leaving her family to wonder if she had foreseen the violent end to her life. The investigation by the Pennsylvania State Police concluded that Julie Bottles was the victim of a homicide, with Curtis Michael being the sole suspect in her death. As Michael also died at the scene, no arrests were made in connection with this case.
