Police have not determined the official cause of death for the
Gilroy woman found in a Morgan Hill parking lot, gun still in hand,
but evidence found at the scene indicates a suicide, police
said.
Police have not determined the official cause of death for the Gilroy woman found in a Morgan Hill parking lot, gun still in hand, but evidence found at the scene indicates a suicide, police said.
“Based on our investigation at this point, it looks as if everything’s pointing toward this being a suicide,” said Morgan Hill Police Sgt. Jerry Neumayer.
Madonna House – who went by Donna – was believed to be missing for about 48 hours before a stylist at the Vanity Hair Salon in a strip mall at 15145 Monterey St. in Morgan Hill found her body Dec. 2 in the front seat of her Honda Accord, which had been parked outside the salon for “a couple days,” according to the stylist and police.
Police originally would not confirm the woman’s identity or manner of death, and although “the coroner will make the ultimate decision,” police confirmed what Donna House’s husband, Jim, said he knew as soon as he was notified of the circumstances – that she took her own life.
“She was under a tremendous amount of stress being in severe pain and working all the time,” Jim House said.
Donna House, 44, took nearly two dozen pills each day, including painkillers, anti-seizure medication and medicine to keep her blood pressure down, her husband said. Several days before her death, Donna House told her husband she had run out of several types of her medication, he said.
In addition to her job as a regional remodeling specialist for Target, which required frequent travel, Donna House helped her husband run their two businesses, Caffe Florian, a coffee shop in Los Gatos, and All Mobile Tire Service. Like many business owners, the Houses were experiencing economic stress, Jim House said.
Police still have not received the official coroner’s report, but the evidence they collected, including a letter found in the car and the gun, which was still in her hand, points toward a suicide, Neumayer said. Police are still waiting to hear back from the coroner about whether gunpowder residue was found on Donna House’s hand. Jim House said he was horrified to learn that the gun she used was his own.
Donna House’s family will remember a wonderful mother, wife and best friend. She and her husband have a grown daughter and a 13-year-old son. Donna and Jim House were high school sweethearts, had been happily married for 25 years and recently welcomed their second grandchild into the world.
“Anybody and everybody who knew and loved Donna” is invited to attend a celebration of her life, 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday at the Los Gatos Elks Lodge, 105 Newell Avenue in Los Gatos, said Jim House.
Donations to help pay for Donna House’s funeral arrangements can be made at www.donnahousememorial.org or through the Donna House Memorial Fund at South Valley National Bank.
