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Thread: John Gerholt Sentenced to LWOP in 2008 PA Slaying Of Karen Gerholt

  1. #1
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    John Gerholt Sentenced to LWOP in 2008 PA Slaying Of Karen Gerholt



    PA DA Plans to seek the death penalty against John Gerholt for the murder of his wife Karen

    By JOE MANDAK
    Associated Press Writer


    PITTSBURGH (AP) -- A man accused of murdering his wife has been charged with forging documents to steal a cemetery plot so he could be buried beside her.

    Bedford County District Attorney William Higgins contends the alleged scam is 39-year-old John Gerholt's latest effort to harass his late wife, Karen, and her relatives.

    "I've never seen somebody so persistent with somebody they killed, trying to torment them after they've killed them. Isn't that enough?" Higgins said.

    Gerholt's defense attorney, Thomas Dickey, denied that his client is harassing his late wife's family.

    "This is just another sign of his true love and devotion to his wife, albeit deceased," Dickey said.

    Gerholt is accused of shooting his 24-year-old wife twice with a sawed-off shotgun as she left for a break at the McDonald's where she worked near Everett, about 90 miles east of Pittsburgh.

    Dickey claims the Nov. 9, 2008, shooting was accidental. Higgins calls that "inconsistent," because he contends the gun would have to be cocked between the first and second shots.

    Gerholt is charged with murder and awaiting trial. Higgins is pursuing the death penalty because Karen Gerholt had a protection-from-abuse order against her husband, and because John Gerholt allegedly endangered others outside the restaurant.

    Gerholt, of Mount Union, was already jailed when the forgery and theft charges were filed Friday.

    Karen Gerholt's aunt owned two empty burial lots at a cemetery, Higgins said. The aunt gave up one for Karen and planned to give the other to another relative, only to discover it had already been deeded to Gerholt, he said. The aunt contacted authorities and the deed in Gerholt's name has since been voided, Higgins said.

    Gerholt somehow got paperwork into the county jail, had it forged and had a jail employee notarize it, Higgins said.

    Nobody else has been charged with helping Gerholt, though the prosecutor said he hasn't ruled out charging Karen's mother, Carolyn McConaughey, who inquired about ownership of the cemetery plot shortly before Gerholt got the documents.

    McConaughey, of Huntingdon County, regularly visits Gerholt at the jail and has urged Higgins not to prosecute her former son-in-law, the prosecutor said. "We don't know why," Higgins said.

    McConaughey told The Associated Press she "didn't have any involvement" in the burial plot transfer. She said she inquired about its ownership because she wanted to bury her mother next to her daughter, but dropped the matter when she never heard back from the owner.

    Asked about her sympathies for Gerholt, she said, "All I want to say is, he loved my daughter and I don't believe he intentionally shot her for any reason." Then she hung up.

    Higgins said Gerholt has placed newspaper ads mourning his wife's passing on her birthday, on Valentine's Day, and on the anniversary of her death. He called the ads an effort to win public sympathy and further harass his wife's relatives.

    The anniversary ad says, "I won't stop looking for you until I meet up with you again in Heaven." It appeared next to one from McConaughey, her husband and other relatives.

    "He's letting her know that he's going to track her down in heaven, and be buried next to her," Higgins said. "That's the way we see this and it's extremely disturbing."

    http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_BURIAL_PLOT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAU LT

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    Date for murder trial is unclear
    Judge handling case has retired


    BEDFORD — A date for the capital murder trial of a man charged with gunning down his estranged wife in a Bedford County McDonald’s parking lot remains uncertain after the judge handling the case retired effective last week.

    Retiring Judge Daniel Howsare has already been appointed by the state Court Administrator’s office as a senior judge, but as of Tuesday a trial date had not been set for the case of John Gerholt.

    A Mount Union native, Gerholt, 39, has been in the Bedford County Jail since the Nov. 9, 2008, shooting death of his wife, Karen Gerholt, 24, of Hopewell.

    If Gerholt is convicted of first-degree murder, Bedford County District Attorney William Higgins said he will seek the death penalty.

    Court-appointed defense attorney Thomas Dickey of Altoona said he is ready for trial with the uncertainty being Howsare’s appointment to the case. Dickey anticipates the trial starting in late August.

    Higgins said because the jury will have to be death-qualified, a trial before fall will be difficult.

    “I need three or four weeks to get my witnesses ready, but we need time to get jury questionnaires out,” Higgins said. “I can try it in August, but the earliest it could happen is September.”

    Howsare, on the bench since the mid-1980s, retired effective July 4, but indicated a willingness to serve in a senior capacity, especially in the Gerholt case.

    Art Heinz, a spokesman for the state Court Administrator’s office, said Howsare’s appointment as a senior judge is broad.

    “It’s just a general assignment, not a particular case,” Heinz said.

    Gerholt, 39, is accused of shooting his wife to death as she took a break in the parking lot of the Snake Spring Township McDonald’s where she was employed.

    The two were estranged and Karen Gerholt days earlier had sought and was given a protection from abuse order by Bedford County Judge Thomas Ling.

    Ling has since recused himself from the case because of his involvement in the restraining order.

    Bedford is a two-judge county, and since Howsare’s retirement, Ling has taken over as president judge and will assume responsibility for assigning Howsare, officials said.

    Howsare, 61, retired about halfway into his third 10-year term on the bench. Historically, the vacancy would be filled temporarily through a recommendation from state Sen. John Eichelberger, R-Blair, with an appointment by the governor.

    Candidates would seek their party nomination and election in 2011 so the vacant seat on the bench would be filled in January 2012.

    But Gov. Ed Rendell is accepting a recommendation made by the chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Ronald Castille, that judicial vacancies go unfilled through the end of 2011 and the election.

    Heinz said the recommendation is in light of the state’s financial difficulties.

    An exception would be made where special needs can be documented.

    Estimates are that as much as $3.3 million could be saved by not filling the 28 judicial vacancies statewide, including Howsare’s, Higgins said.

    “Basically we’re going to have a vacancy for a year and a half,” he said.

    http://tribune-democrat.com/local/x383296273/Date-for-murder-trial-is-unclear

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    Murder trial set

    The trial for a man facing the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder in the 2008 shooting death of his wife in a McDonald’s parking lot has been set for late fall.

    Jury selection in the capital murder case of John Lewis Gerholt will begin Nov. 1, Bedford County District Attorney William Higgins said.

    This initial process, which includes seating a death qualified jury, will take about a week, with the testimony and remainder of the case to take about two weeks, Higgins said.

    Gerholt, 39, of Mount Union, is charged in the Nov. 9, 2008, shooting death of his estranged wife, Karen Gerholt, 24, of Bedford County.

    Karen Gerholt was working at the Snake Spring Township McDonald’s when she walked outside to take a break. Police allege that her husband was lying in wait and opened fire, killing her with two shots from a 12-gauge shotgun.

    The defendant has maintained that the shooting was an accident.

    The trial has been tentatively scheduled a number of times with prosecution and defense predicting earlier this summer that it could be held as early as late August. But any date remained unclear following the July retirement of Judge Daniel Howsare.

    Howsare has since been named by President Judge Thomas Ling to handle the Gerholt trial. Ling recused himself from the case because he handled a protection from abuse order that Karen Gerholt sought weeks prior to her death.

    Efforts likely will be made to pick a jury from Bedford County, Higgins said.

    “We’ve been ready for quite some time,” he said.

    Court appointed attorney Thomas Dickey of Altoona could not reached for comment Monday. Dickey told The Tribune-Democrat last month that he is ready to defend Gerholt.

    http://tribune-democrat.com/local/x1316178080/Murder-trial-set

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    Pa. burial plot charges split from murder trial

    A western Pennsylvania man charged with murdering his wife will have a separate trial on charges he forged documents to steal a cemetery plot so he could be buried beside her.

    Forty-year-old John Gerholt Sr. has claimed he accidentally shot his wife, 24-year-old Karen Gerholt, on Nov. 9, 2008, as she left work. Bedford County prosecutors want the death penalty.

    The prosecutors also wanted that trial to deal with charges that Gerholt forged cemetery documents while in jail. But a Bedford County judge says the trial set to begin Nov. 30 will deal only with the murder charges.

    Gerholt will later stand trial for the alleged burial plot.

    District Attorney William Higgins says Gerholt, essentially, continued to stalk his wife after her death. Gerholt's attorney says his client is merely devoted to his late wife.


    Read more: http://www.centredaily.com/2010/11/0...#ixzz14p6HJL00

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    Murder trial delayed again

    BEDFORD — The capital murder trial of a man charged in the November 2008 shooting death of his estranged wife in a McDonald’s parking lot has once again been delayed.

    Bedford County Judge Daniel Howsare agreed Friday to give John Gerholt’s defense additional time to get reports back from experts and pass the information along to the prosecution.

    It is believed to be the trial’s third delay.

    The trial was to get under way at the end of this month, with jury selection to start Nov. 30 and testimony to begin soon after.

    In a schedule hammered out Friday among defense attorney Thomas Dickey of Altoona, Bedford County District Attorney William Higgins and the judge, members of the jury pool will be brought in Feb. 16 to fill out standard questionnaires. Jury selection is to begin Feb. 23.

    Opening statements and testimony will begin as soon as the jury is in place, with a one-day break to allow the attorneys time to handle last-minute trial issues, Howsare said.

    Gerholt, 40, has been in the Bedford County Jail since his Nov. 9, 2008, arrest minutes after police say he leveled a loaded shotgun at his wife and pulled the trigger twice.

    Karen Gerholt, 24, a mother of four children, was taking a break from her job at McDonald’s on Route 30 just east of Bedford.

    Gerholt has maintained the shooting was an accident.

    Two weeks prior to her death, Karen Gerholt had been granted a protection order against John Gerholt, the result of a troubled relationship.

    Because Gerholt allegedly violated the court order to have no contact with his wife and because of the location of the shooting, a busy McDonald’s restaurant, Higgins said he will seek the death penalty if he gets a first-degree murder conviction.

    Howsare on Friday questioned Gerholt regarding the request for this latest continuance. The judge also explained that the additional delay could not be used as a basis for an appeal because Gerholt did not receive a speedy trial as provided in the law.

    Dickey said he is using six to eight experts in his defense of Gerholt, and there have been delays in obtaining and assessing the reports.

    He also indicated he is taking extensive steps to investigate not only details leading up to and including the shooting, but also Gerholt’s background.

    “We have to get experts ready for all of it,” he said of the potential of a death penalty hearing after the verdict.

    Higgins said he has been ready for trial for some time, but he would not object to the continuance in light of the need for information from the experts.

    Howsare gave Dickey until Dec. 17 to provide the experts’ reports to the prosecution.

    Jury selection likely will take a few days and the prosecution and defense witnesses will take the better part of two weeks, Dickey said.

    http://tribune-democrat.com/local/x1...-delayed-again

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    Jury for murder trial could be picked soon

    Questionnaires for Bedford County residents who will be part of the jury pool for an upcoming capital murder trial are set to go out next month, court officials said Wednesday.

    The questionnaires for potential jurors in the John Gerholt trial will go out Feb. 16 with Feb. 23 scheduled as the first day to start picking a panel, Bedford County District Attorney William Higgins said.

    The process, which will include extensive questioning to determine if the potential jurors would be able to support the death penalty if Gerholt is convicted of first-degree murder, should take about a week, Higgins said.

    “We expect the trial to begin March 1,” he said.

    Gerholt, 40, is charged with gunning down his estranged wife on Nov. 9, 2008, in the parking lot of the McDonald’s along Route 30 east of Bedford.

    Shooting victim Karen Gerholt, 24, a mother of four children, was taking a break from her job at the fast-food restaurant when police say the defendant gunned her down with two shots from a rifle he had in his car.

    Gerholt does not dispute that he shot his wife, but he has maintained that it was an accident.

    In the weeks leading up to the shooting, Karen Gerholt had obtained a protection from abuse order from Bedford County Judge Thomas Ling.

    Higgins, in listing the aggravating circumstances for seeking the death penalty, said the defendant’s violation of that court order was a criminal act. Additionally, the shooting took place in a congested parking lot, endangering the lives of a number of people.

    Gerholt’s trial has repeatedly been delayed at the request of defense attorney Thomas Dickey of Altoona, appointed by the Bedford County courts to handle the case.

    Because it is a death-penalty case, state law requires that the defense attorney must have extensive criminal trial experience and be death- penalty qualified.

    Bedford County at the time of the incident did not have a death qualified attorney outside of the prosecutor’s office.

    In mid-November, Judge Daniel Howsare gave Dickey until Dec. 17 to provide the district attorney’s office with copies of reports from a laundry list of experts who will testify on behalf of Gerholt.

    Higgins said Wednesday that he has yet to receive the experts’ reports, but was continuing to prepare for trial.

    “I’d like some time to review them,” Higgins said.

    The prosecution has had experts of its own examine the gun and other evidence.

    “We’re confident we know what was going on,” Higgins said.

    Dickey did not return telephone calls seeking comment.

    http://tribune-democrat.com/local/x9...be-picked-soon

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    Bedford murder trial again put on hold

    http://tribune-democrat.com/local/x7...in-put-on-hold

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    Defense makes motion to strike death penalty

    BEDFORD — A man who police say shot and killed his estranged wife in the parking lot of a McDonald’s restaurant should not have to face a possibility of the death penalty because of diminished mental capacity, his attorney said.

    In a motion to strike the death penalty as unconstitutional, attorney Thomas Dickey said that John Gerholt has been diagnosed as being “mildly retarded.”

    Gerholt, 40, also is said to be “learning disabled in all areas,” Dickey wrote in his request to Bedford County Judge Daniel Howsare.

    Gerholt is charged with first-degree murder in the Nov. 9, 2008, shooting death of his wife, Karen Gerholt, 24, of Hopewell.

    http://tribune-democrat.com/local/x1...-death-penalty

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    Judge orders tests on murder defendant

    A Bedford County judge wants a murder defendant tested to determine if he is mentally deficient, as claimed by his attorney.

    District Attorney William Higgins said Monday he is contacting a psychologist to visit John Gerholt at the Bedford County Jail for interviews and testing to determine his mental capacity.

    “There’s not going to be any delay on our part,” Higgins said. “I’m working on it now. We’ll have him evaluated here at the jail.”

    Gerholt is charged in the Nov. 9, 2008, shooting death of his estranged wife, Karen Gerholt, 24, of Hopewell.

    He could face the death penalty if convicted.

    http://tribune-democrat.com/local/x8...rder-defendant

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    Jury selection set for end of April

    The capital murder trial of a man accused of shooting his wife in a McDonald’s parking lot nearly 31/2 years ago will move forward with jury selection to begin at the end of April.

    John Lewis Gerholt, 40, was in Bedford County court Monday for a status conference regarding his upcoming trial. A conviction of first- degree murder could result in Gerholt’s getting the death penalty.

    The Gerholt hearing has been continued a number of times, but now appears on target despite the questions which remain in a Blair County double-homicide case, which was the reason for the latest Gerholt delay.

    The defense attorney representing Gerholt and Nicholas Adam Horner is Thomas Dickey of Altoona, who said Monday it remains a mystery how and when the state Supreme Court will act on Horner, prompting him to proceed with Gerholt as scheduled.

    “Hopefully whatever happens in Blair County, this case move forward and they will accommodate our schedule,” Bedford County District Attorney William Higgins said. “We can’t just let this thing hang.”

    Gerholt is charged in the Nov. 9, 2008, shooting death of Karen Gerholt, 24, of the Hopewell area, as she walked out of the Bedford Township McDonald’s where she worked.

    He and his wife had been estranged, and two weeks earlier a Bedford County judge had awarded her a protection from abuse order prohibiting Gerholt from making any contact with her.

    http://tribune-democrat.com/local/x1...r-end-of-April

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