Wanted man found dead in car

A Cheltenham man wanted in the death of his live-in girlfriend was found dead Saturday night in Philadelphia, a firearm near his body.

Officers recovered the body of Stanley W. "Peter" Laing, 52, from the backseat of a car parked in an Oak Lane apartment complex, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office.

Laing had been charged with first-degree murder and related offenses in connection with the shooting death of Indra Sheets, 49, a licensed nurse whose body was found about 5:20 p.m. Wednesday in the home she and Laing shared on the 200 block of Sunnybrook Avenue in Elkins Park.

Investigators were unable to find Laing after the slaying, touching off an intense manhunt.

The search came to an end about 8:30 p.m. Saturday, when Philadelphia police found Laing in a car parked near the Adams Run Apartments along the 6200 block of Crescentville Road.

Preliminary reports indicated that he had been shot, and that the wound was believed to be self-inflicted. Philadelphia police and the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office were handling the investigation into his death.

Cheltenham Township School District Superintendent William N. Kiefer said Friday that Sheets had been the victim of domestic violence. Her two children, a ninth-grader and a seventh-grader, were safe and being cared for.

It was unclear whether Laing was the father of the two children.