PAXTON, Ill. (WAND) - The case of an Elliott man who died last May has been ruled a homicide.

34-year-old Jeremy Turner was found dead in his home in the 200 block of E. Railroad St. in Elliott on May 8, 2018 after firefighters were called there to put out a major house fire.

Turner died from a gunshot wound to the head. A coroner's jury of three men and three women deliberated for an hour and a half before ruling his manner of death homicidal, the News Gazette reports.

An autopsy showed soot in Turner's airways. That means he was alive at the time of the fire. 

The bullet wound to the head was not immediately apparent due to the body's badly burned condition.

A semi-automatic pistol Turner kept loaded in the side of his recliner and 11 to 13 other guns kept in the home were removed the night of Turner's death by someone claiming to be a "family friend," the News Gazette said.

That man told police Turner's widow asked him to take the guns. She has strongly denied that and said she has not spoken to the man in five to six years.

The man brought the pistol to the sheriff the day after Turner's death. It has been taken apart and cleaned.

In crime scene photos, investigators could see the pistol's muzzle facing backward, pointing down the right side of a recliner where Turner's body was found.

Five shells were recovered from the scene. People responding to the fire heard pops from inside the house that they believe was ammunition going off from the heat of the fire.

However, officials said the five pistol rounds were fired from the gun.

Witnesses did not report seeing any vehicles present before the fire or leaving the house after.

Turner's widow, Dyna, said she and her adult son left the house for their jobs early in the day. She was called about the fire around 10:20 a.m.

Dyna told investigators her husband suffers from several medical conditions including Huntington's disease, multiple sclerosis, and emphysema. She said medications would be the only motive she could think of for someone to hurt him. He was also a medical marijuana user.

She also said there was never a bullet in the chamber of the gun he kept stored in the recliner. She also said he would not have been able to rack the slide with one hand on his own, due to his right hand being mostly useless due to severe shaking from his diseases.