A note — maybe authored by the killer. Blood. Fingerprints. A bullet slug. Fiber and other trace evidence. A recent break-in.

Those are among the clues state police investigators are poring through in hopes of solving last week’s slaying of a well-liked Seneca Valley High School math teacher.

Eight days after 48-year-old Steven Russo was shot in the head at his log cabin-style rental home on Route 19 in Lancaster Township, police have yet to identify a suspect or any so-called “person of interest.”

But neither has anybody been eliminated as a suspect, Lt. Steve Ignatz said Wednesday.

“There are a lot of people we’re talking to and have talked to,” Ignatz said. “We’ve not ruled anyone in or out.”

Investigators are keeping most of their findings close to the vest. Most details — like a possible motive and any working theories about the killing — are secret.

Police say Russo’s daughter found him dead about 11:25 a.m. Nov. 24 when she came to visit his home.

Clad in lounge pants, shirt and socks, the victim was found on his side in the kitchen. The daughter saw blood on her father and believed he was dead.

An autopsy later determined the cause of death was a small caliber gunshot wound to the side of the head. The death was ruled a homicide.

The shooting timeline, police suspect, was between 7 and 10:30 a.m. that day.

Russo’s daughter immediately called 911, which in turn notified Lancaster Township police.

Part-time officer Ronald Ellenberger went into the home and found “a significant amount of blood on and around (Russo’s) body, according to court documents.

Inexperienced in such crimes and lacking manpower and resources to conduct such investigations, Lancaster police turned the case over to state police.

Four hours after Russo was found dead, District Judge Sue Haggerty issued investigators a warrant to search the two-story house.

Russo shared the home with his girlfriend, Heidi Smith, a second-grade teacher at Mars Elementary School. Smith reportedly left the house around 7 a.m., or shortly after, to go to work.

Smith originally rented the house and had been living there for a while, neighbors said. Russo, who is married, had only moved in a month or so ago.

The search warrant was a catch-all for any would- be clues police could collect, including biological evidence such as blood, hair, saliva and skin tissue.

Police also sought to gather up any available trace evidence such as clothing fibers, soil and latent fingerprints.

Additionally, investigators combed the home for all ballistics evidence such as guns, ammunition, empty cartridge cases, bullets, bullet fragments and gunpowder residue.

The warrant also allowed police to take electronic evidence — particularly computers and cell phones — as well as any letters, mail and photographs.

However, police have yet to file the list of items taken from the house as required by law. But Ignatz confirmed that one intriguing crime scene item immediately caught the eyes of investigators.

A single-page, typewritten note was found near Russo’s body.

With no arrests in the killing, not surprisingly police have refused to divulge the note’s contents.

“I can’t say what it says,” Ignatz said.

He wouldn’t even characterize the importance of the note in the homicide probe.

“I’m not sure what it implies for our investigation,” he said.

But Ignatz acknowledged the killer could have typed the note.

He would not speculate whether police believe the note could have been part of the killer’s crime scene staging to throw off investigators.

Meanwhile, police do not believe the killing and a break-in at the home just the day before was some coincidence.

Lancaster Township police officer Melanie Hart said Russo on Nov. 23 reported a burglary at the house.

“He arrived home and heard someone inside,” Hart told the Butler Eagle. She said the unknown burglar forced in a basement door.

Hart said nothing was apparently taken and the house was not ransacked. She said there are no suspects but declined further comment about the burglary investigation.

“We think they’re related,” Ignatz said of the break-in and the slaying, but he would not elaborate.

He said police as part of the homicide investigation continue to interview family members, friends, co-workers and neighbors of Russo and his girlfriend.

“We’re delving into their backgrounds,” Ignatz said.

Hope also is staked on the pending results of scientific tests of physical evidence in the case.

But for now “no charges are imminent,” Ignatz said.

Meanwhile, Russo’s family has largely avoided the media. The family gathered Monday in Butler for funeral services.

Among the survivors are his wife, Carole Codispot Russo, and two children.

Steve Russo filed for divorce in July, according to Butler County Court records, after the 24-year marriage “suffered an “irretrievable breakdown.”

John Russo of Latrobe, Westmoreland County, one of the victim’s three brothers, declined comment about the slaying.

He said the family has been stunned by the outpouring of affection expressed by Russo’s students and former students, in wake of the killing.

“We’re overwhelmed,” Russo said, “no doubt about that.”

He remembered his brother as “a class act. A funny guy.”

Meanwhile, students and staff members at Seneca Valley High School are coping with the loss of their teacher and colleague.

Counselors and mental health specialists from the Center for Community Resources in Butler have been made available to students and staff at the high school, according to district spokeswoman Linda Andreassi.

A substitute has been brought in to cover Russo’s class and is doing so with a counselor.

Andreassi said additional specialists are available to the school community if the need arises.

“As you can imagine, we are all saddened by his sudden and tragic death,” Andreassi wrote in an e-mail to the Eagle. “Mr. Russo taught for 20 years in Seneca Valley, excelled at teaching and made quite an impression on those who were fortunate to know him. He is greatly missed by students and staff alike.”