COLUMBUS, Ohio - The wife of a fired Columbus police officer who's suspected of killing her was shot once in the head and was stabbed many times before her husband stole a sheriff's sport-utility vehicle and kept troopers at bay on an interstate for 4 1/2 hours, the Franklin County coroner said Saturday.

        Elizabeth Harton, 27, was found dead in the couple's home Friday morning - about the same time her husband, Hermando “Cliff” Harton, fired at deputies at a truck stop 45 miles to the north and led them on a 30-mile chase to a standoff that ended when he was shot.

Hermando Harton

Elizabeth Harton

        Mr. Harton remained in critical condition Saturday at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland. No charges have been filed, the Franklin County sheriff's office said.

        Investigators aren't releasing where in the couple's home Mrs. Harton was found, Sheriff's Detective James Simmons said. Coroner Brad Lewis said she died from the gunshot wound.

        “There were multiple stab wounds, but they did not cause her death,” Mr. Lewis said Saturday. He would not say where she was stabbed and said the final autopsy report won't be available for weeks, when toxicology results come back.

        A Columbus police review panel recommended against hiring Mr. Harton in 1993, citing credit problems, poor performance on a polygraph test and his admission that he carried a concealed handgun for protection, according to his personnel records. Mr. Harton appealed and was hired in 1994.

        He was fired July 8 after a two-year investigation into a shooting that wounded a man. Mrs. Harton, a police cadet, also reportedly had renewed efforts to divorce her husband two years after filing for divorce and dropping the case.

        Authorities and friends said the combined pressure must have caused Mr. Harton to snap; officers said they thought Mr. Harton wanted them to shoot him.

        Authorities gave this account of the chase:

        Mr. Harton drove an SUV with his four children to a truck stop on Interstate 71 near Mount Gilead, where he walked inside with two handguns shortly after 5 a.m. Friday and told people to clear out.

        When Morrow County sheriff's deputies arrived, he went outside, fired four times, then fled north in a stolen sheriff's SUV until spikes placed by state troopers flattened the tires. The standoff ended when he fled into woods and was shot three times and critically wounded.

        Three of the children - the couple's 5- and 3-year-old sons and 1-year-old daughter - were placed with relatives in another county, Franklin County Children Services said. Mr. Harton's 2-year-old son from another relationship is with his mother, who has custody.

        Mr. Harton's personnel file with Columbus police shows 17 instances since 1995 in which he used mace or force, or suspects were injured during arrest. In all cases, the department said the complaints were unfounded or unjustified.

        But the 18th complaint, that Mr. Harton fired into the passenger window of a minivan that a shoplifting suspect was driving in September 2000, led to his firing. Mr. Harton was working security for a grocery store when he fired his service revolver.

        Mr. Harton served in the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton from 1982 to 1993, when he was discharged as a sergeant.

        He was working as a corrections officer for the Corrections Medical Center in 1993, when he applied to the Columbus police department. His application indicates he applied to at least five other law-enforcement agencies, including the State Highway Patrol, but was not hired. Two agencies told background investigators he failed their tests, the other three could not find records of an application.

        A panel that interviewed him in September 1993 said Mr. Harton was “not acceptable” as a hire. In written comments, the panel said he was polite and close to his mother, but “not truthful.” They also cited a more than $2,000 debt to the attorney who handled his 1993 divorce and several late bill payments.

        Mr. Harton's file also contains several letters and records of phone calls thanking him for being courteous.

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