The Death of Kathy Wangler

In Lima, Ohio, Dr. Mark Wangler (51-years-old) and his wife, Kathy (48-years-old) went to church together that morning. Early the next morning at around 5:00 AM, in their home on Yorkshire Drive, Mark was awakened by the carbon monoxide alarm blaring from their basement.He went upstairs to check on his sleeping wife. Mark found her unresponsive and in the middle of a seizure.

At 5:17am, he called 911 and started CPR. Mark told the 911 operator that the carbon monoxide detector had gone off and his wife was having a seizure. He told the operator that he was going to do CPR and then, he was heard counting and saying, “She’s not coming around!” Within the hour, 5:54 AM, Kathy was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Kathy and Mark’s sons, Nathan and Aaron, rushed home from college to be with their father and the rest of their extended family. There was no reason to suspect anyone of foul play and no one was named as a suspect in Kathy’s death. It would be 3 years before Mark Wangler would become the focus of a murder investigation.

Record Scratch And Now It’s time for a Breakdown…

Kathy Wangler was born Kathy Schlarman and was the oldest daughter in a close family with 5 children. Her mother was a nurse, and her father was a farmer. Kathy’s friends and family describe her as bubbly, outgoing, and fun. She was always happy and loved life. Mark Wangler had done some work for Kathy’s grandparents, handy-man type stuff, and this is how Mark and Kathy got to know each other. She was 15 when they met.

When she was 18, Kathy married Mark Wangler. Mark said they were very opposite in their personalities. She was outgoing and loved people, and he was awkward and introverted (his words). Mark was described by others as sweet, considerate, smart, and funny. Both were very religious and active in their church. Kathy worked to put Mark through med school and in her 30s, she went back to Ohio State University to get her business degree. Mark became an anesthesiologist and was considered to be an excellent doctor. He was respected and often requested by patients.

One of Kathy’s friends stated in “Til Death Do Us Part” that at Kathy’s graduation party, Mark made a point to go around the room and say to everyone “she will never use her degree” which she found in poor taste. Perhaps he said this/felt this way because of how important their 2 boys were to her. They had two sons, Nathan and Aaron. Aaron describes them as loving parents who were a team and always supportive of their children. Friends said that Kathy’s most important job was being a mother. She was said to be a dedicated mother.

In the summers, Kathy would work with the Allen County fair to raise thousands of dollars for the local school district. In the beginning of their marriage, Mark and Kathy were happy and things were going well, but that seemed to gradually slip as the years went on. There was an allegation that Kathy was caught with another man in the house one day when Mark came home when the boys were still fairly young; middle to high school age. He tried to keep it to himself and quickly got them into counseling, but Kathy told her friend that the counselor viewed Mark as perfect and had cast her in a negative light. Mark’s sister said that Kathy was not receptive to counseling and said that it was Mark that needed to be “fixed.”

The Marriage is in Shambles

When the boys went away to college, Kathy found herself lonely and unhappy. She and Mark drifted further apart and were sleeping in separate rooms by 2006. Mark claims this was because Kathy had gained a lot of weight and was snoring aggressively, but he also said that he went to bed early because he woke up early for work and Kathy was definitely a night owl.

According to Mark’s sister, brother in law, and son, Aaron, Kathy may have been suffering from a condition like bipolar disorder or depression. Aaron said that Mark had asked Kathy to be seen and explore this possibility several times but she would never go. Though they were no longer the happy couple they had once been, Mark says they never discussed separation or divorce and were in counseling.

Mark was very frustrated and upset about Kathy’s housekeeping, or really, her lack of housekeeping. She didn’t clean or put things away and their house was covered in things. They were also fighting about the amount of money that Kathy was racking up on credit cards.

Kathy had spent tens of thousands of dollars on jewelry and another $60,000 in credit card debt that Mark said he hadn’t known about for a while. Also at this time, Kathy had opened her own bank account and transferred $16,000 from their joint account into this secret personal account. Almost as though she was trying to plan her escape.

Kathy’s sister, Joanne said that she was very disturbed one time when she saw Mark and Kathy get into a “wrestling match” over a checkbook. Joanne said that when they stopped fighting, Mark said, “This is no way to run a marriage.” Joanne said she was literally shaking from this and asked Kathy if she was safe there. Kathy later told one of her sisters that her marriage was very much at rock bottom. She told her sister that one day she would sit her down and tell her everything. This sit down never happened.

Kathy’s mom, Sarah Schlarman, told 48 Hours that Mark had made upsetting comments to her that blamed Kathy for the troubles in the marriage. Sarah said that about a year before Kathy died, Mark said, “I wanna tell you one thing: Your daughter is a monster.” Sarah asked him how Kathy was a monster. Mark said, “Well, she doesn’t do what I tell her to do.” Sarah was troubled by this and told 48 Hours that when he said that she asked him if maybe they should just get a divorce. Sarah then reported that Mark refused to get a divorce, because he’d known other doctors who got divorces and it ended up costing them a ton of money.

Kathy was no more eager to get a divorce than Mark. However, this was not because she was still in love with Mark and didn’t want to leave him. She was worried about money too, but her sister said that Kathy was worried that if she left, Mark would cut off the boys. Her sister thought that wasn’t a problem because the boys were in their 20s and no longer living in the house, but Kathy’s main concern was that Mark would stop providing for the boys financially.

Through the summer of 2006, their marriage continued to deteriorate. According to friends, Kathy said that her husband was out to “destroy her financially, emotionally, psychologically, in the community, and in their church.” During this time, Mark purchased a journal and began writing his feelings down. He said things like “Kathy thinks I am boring in bed. I feel rejected by Kathy. Lord, I place our marriage on your altar.”

Kathy’s friend, Rodney Knoll recounted his last conversation with Kathy. He remembers saying generic goodbyes to her and saying, “Take care.” Rodney said that Kathy’s response was, “Oh I will! You have to when somebody’s trying to destroy you, and I mean that literally.”

Three days later, Kathy was dead.

FOR PART TWO, CLICK HERE!