Monrovia wife and dog found shot dead. Husband held on preliminary murder.

Gary Barger. Booking photo: Morgan County Sheriff's Office / via WRTV.

Gary Barger. Booking photo: Morgan County Sheriff's Office / via WRTV.

The town marshal walked into a house on North Chestnut Street and found a wife shot dead and a dog shot dead. Nobody else was inside.

Heather Barger, 54, was discovered with apparent gunshot wounds just after 2 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24, in the 100 block of North Chestnut Street in Monrovia, Morgan County, according to WRTV reporting based on the response by Morgan County sheriff's deputies and the Monrovia town marshal. Officers also found a dog inside the same home that had been shot and killed.

Her husband, Gary Barger, 62, was taken into custody at the scene without incident. He was being held at the Morgan County Jail on a preliminary murder charge. The Morgan County Prosecutor's Office will decide final charges after reviewing the investigation, WRTV reported. An autopsy for Heather Barger was scheduled for Friday to determine the official cause of death.

The Morgan County Major Crimes Task Force continued the probe. Authorities said there is no ongoing danger to the public. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Pat Williams at 765-342-1080.

A preliminary murder hold is not a conviction. Gary Barger is accused and presumed innocent unless and until a court finds otherwise. Final charging still sits with the prosecutor, not with the booking sheet.

Monrovia is a town of roughly 2,500 people about 35 minutes southwest of downtown Indianapolis. WRTV noted that a Morgan County major-crime task force also investigated a separate murder-suicide near Monrovia in March — a different case, different house, different outcome. Thursday's scene ended with one adult dead, a dog dead, and a husband in jail under a preliminary murder hold while the file moves to the prosecutor.

Domestic gun deaths do not wait for press conferences. Heather Barger is already gone. The dog that shared that house is gone with her. The man who lived there is in the Morgan County Jail on a preliminary murder hold, and the charging decision still sits on the prosecutor's desk.

Reporting: WRTV, Sept. 24, 2026 — Monrovia man arrested after wife, dog found shot to death; earlier WRTV note citing Morgan County Sheriff's Office Facebook: suspect in custody after homicide in Monrovia.

Written by Hoosiers, for Hoosiers.