Family is Everything

Awaiting answers about grandpa Wilt is very hard for me. If only I could be with my family right now. Talking with my immediate family and one of my cousins today, we are all shocked.

I just got done watching the news casts from today at grandpas house. Seeing my uncle and step-grandma in the video walking up to the house really hit me hard. Then watching one of the videos pull his body out on the stretcher hit even harder.

I will lie in bed tonight and mentally talk to grandpa, tell him I love him and miss him dearly. I will someday see him again!

Here is one write up on grandpa.
5/14/2008 8:49:00 AM Email this article • Print this article

SIDNEY POLICE Department detectives investigate the suspicious death of Paul V. Wilt at his residence at 138 Independence Court in Sidney Tuesday afternoon.

Police investigate death
How Paul Wilt died has not been releasedHow Paul Wilt died has not been released

By Jim Painter
Staff Writer

Sidney Police continue to investigate the suspicious death of 80-year-old Paul V. Wilt of Sidney on Tuesday. Detectives are looking into a recent burglary at his residence to determine any connection.

Officials report Wilt had suffered trauma to the body, but the exact cause of death has not been determined.

Wilt was a long time home builder from the Botkins area and heavily involved in quarter horses.

Police department dispatchers received a call about the death at 10:20 a.m., according to Capt. Rod Austin. Once officers arrived it was determined to investigate the death further.

Police cordoned off Wilt's property at 138 Independence Court, located in the Northwood Village condominium property. Officers began canvassing the neighborhood for evidence and questioning of residents.

Police would not speculate on what may have occurred. A specialist from the Miami Valley Regional Crime Lab assisted detectives at the scene.

Officers impounded several cars within blocks of Wilt's residence that had been broken into. Steering columns had been broken in an attempted to steal the vehicle. City workers removed sewer lids for police searching for clues.

Detectives continue to investigate the April 13 break-in of Wilt's home. Thieves took a 16-gauge shotgun valued at $1,000, a safe valued at $50, a $1,000 computer and a $200 monitor.

Wilt's body was taken to the Montgomery County Coroner's Office for an autopsy, Austin said.

Neighbors said Wilt was active despite being handicapped having lost a leg. Using a motorized scooter, Wilt was able to drive his van. One said he rode the scooter many times on North Main Avenue.

Several neighbors said Wilt had become disheartened due to the break-in while he was hospitalized. Thieves gained entry by breaking a front room window in an enclosed patio area.

"He was just mad that someone would do that to him. He kept asking 'Why me?'", said Shirley Rose, president of the Northwood Village Homeowners Association.

"He always offered to help someone. He was a good soul and would help anyone if they needed it."

Rose said Wilt had been living there for more than three years and the neighborhood has been relatively safe. She did say a resident reported to her that around 1 a.m. the day Wilt's home was broken into five males were seen walking through the complex on Liberty Court.

Rose stated a health care nurse would stop by each morning around 9 a.m. to care for Mr. Wilt. Police would not confirm who had found Wilt's body.

A neighbor to Wilt who was seen speaking to police, but refused to be identified by the Sidney Daily News, said they heard someone outside their residence around 4:15 a.m. Tuesday. Awake at the time, their dog soon alerted them a possible intruder was outside. The neighbor said they could hear people running from their property.

Robert and Patsy Maxwell, 140 Independence Court, are the closest adjoining neighbors to Wilt. The couple were up until 1 a.m. Tuesday, but didn't hear anything suspicious.

"We didn't know anything was going on until the police were here," said Robert Maxwell. He said the construction of the condo building was such that very seldom would neighbors hear anything from an adjoining resident.

Patsy Maxwell said Wilt lived alone, but was away most of the time. She said he received regular visits from his nurse, housekeeper and granddaughter.

Mary Durbin, 201 Lunar St., said numerous vehicle break-ins have been reported recently in the neighborhood. She said she knew of the Wilt break-in and that he was in the hospital at the time.

Durbin and her husband did not hear or see anything suspicious from across the street during the night.

Wilt was a lifelong home builder establishing his business from Harry's Paint Shop in Botkins, which he purchased in the early 1960's. By 1976, Paul Wilt Homes was erecting 20 to 30 houses a year, according to a Sidney Daily News article.

In 1981, Wilt's son, William Wilt, along with William Wendel and James Buehler, purchased the business.

In 1978, Wilt opened the Paul Wilt Quarter Horse Palace at 3554 Sidney-Freyburg Road. He had been handling, breeding and judging quarter horses for the past 25 years at the time.

In 1995, Wilt was elected president of the Ohio Quarter Horse Association. In 1996, he was inducted into the All-American Quarter Horse Congress Hall of Fame. In 1997, he was chosen as honorary vice president of the American Quarter Horse Association.