Widow of soldier killed in Iraq found dead

WESTBROOK – Police have identified a man and woman who were found dead in a home on Friday as the wife of a Maine National Guard soldier who was killed a year ago in Iraq and her father.

Lavinia Gelineau, 25, and her father, Nicolae Onitiu, 51, were discovered in a Central Street home around noon after Westbrook police were called by Gelineau’s employer, Steve McCausland, a Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman, said.

Onitiu, who is from Romania, arrived in Maine on Wednesday, McCausland said. He added that investigators have a “good idea” of what happened but were waiting to release details pending further examination.

“It’s suspicious because of the circumstances,” McCausland said. “The medical examiner has arrived, and we’re hoping to get further clarification.”

Autopsies on Gelineau and her father were scheduled to be held at the state medical examiner’s office in Augusta.

Army National Guard Spc. Christopher Gelineau, 23, was fatally injured last May in an ambush in northern Iraq. He was a member of the Maine National Guard’s 133rd Engineering Battalion, which recently returned to the state.