2009-07-02 00:26:00
JANET KELLEY
In shooting one man, John C. Coulson Jr. saved the life of another, the Lancaster judge was told.But Coulson, a 60-year-old Vietnam veteran, was not allowed to possess a gun, let alone shoot it.On Wednesday, Coulson was sentenced in Lancaster County Court to 5 to 10 years in state p......
2009-07-02 00:19:00
TOM MURSE
The decades-long effort to open a federal courthouse in Lancaster has taken perhaps its biggest step forward: President Barack Obama is allocating $27 million for the project in his budget proposal for 2010."This is the first time we've gotten this far," U.S. Sen. Arlen Spect......
2009-07-01 00:07:00
JANET KELLEY
The young man, shot several times inside a Manheim Township bar, told the Lancaster County judge he thinks about the incident every day.And the shooter, Colby Richard Dixon, told Judge Dennis Reinaker he prays for his victim, Keith Pitt Jr., all the time."Nobody deserves what h......
2009-06-30 00:26:00
JANET KELLEY
A city man was sentenced Monday to 6 to 23 months in county prison for repeatedly sexually assaulting a young girl.Benigno Ayala pleaded guilty in March in Lancaster County Court to one count each of indecent assault and corruption of minors.Before imposing sentence, Judge Howard F.......
2009-06-22 00:08:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Two feuding motorists brawled in an Ephrata Borough parking lot before one man pulled a knife and stabbed the other in the neck, investigators said.Ephrata police Chief William Harvey said a "road rage" incident on South State Street led to the stabbing at Brights Family Restaura......
2009-06-19 01:03:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Mount Joy teenager who was 16 when he allegedly played a role in the 2007 doorstep killing of Ray Diener will be tried as an adult.Emru Kebede's attorney on Thursday withdrew a petition that his client be tried in juvenile court, citing overwhelming evidence that prosecutors planned ......
2009-06-18 00:31:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Bones found by a trapper Tuesday in a section of woods in Pequea Township are the remains of a bear, officials determined Wednesday.The foot and ankle bones appeared to be human remains, so police and a Lancaster County forensic team responded to the site in the 3500 block of Willow Street......
2009-06-16 00:42:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A team of officers and a police K-9 unit scoured a patch of woods in Mount Joy Township for several hours this weekend before realizing that a report of a gunman on the loose was a hoax.The incident began Friday night when a 911 caller reported his son, 18-year-old Brian Fry, was being cha......
2009-06-16 00:32:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
An elderly couple was killed Monday morning in a single-vehicle crash on Route 23, just east of Churchtown, officials said.Paul and Josephine Faithful, each 86, died when the car they were in went into a ditch and struck a large piece of concrete about 10:30 a.m. in Caernarvon Township....
2009-06-06 01:06:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
A New Providence kennel operator charged with animal cruelty and violations of the state's dog law got a split judgment Friday.District Judge Stuart J. Mylin dismissed the misdemeanor cruelty charge against Samuel E. King, who operates Country Lane Kennels at 223 Refton Road.But......
2009-06-04 00:42:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Shannon Hess was sentenced Wednesday to life behind bars for killing his mother-in-law in 2007.Lancaster County Judge Jeffery D. Wright ordered the mandatory life-without-parole penalty a month after a jury convicted Hess of first-degree murder."I understand you're obligate......
2009-06-03 00:54:00
MICHAEL YODER
A drug deal gone awry was the cause of a shooting that left a man dead in the parking lot of Farnum Towers two weeks ago, city police said.However, police are not charging the teenage shooter, Jerry James, in the death of Thomas Ray Brown III — because, they said, James was defending......
2009-06-02 01:13:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Investigators have charged a woman with homicide for allegedly killing her husband May 9.The charges were brought against Tonya L. Potter even though her husband, Robert Potter, died after declining treatment from first-responders who were called to their home after his wife allegedly assa......
2009-05-30 01:02:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Lancaster County Prison Warden Vincent Guarini does not deny that one of his guards repeatedly struck an inmate who was chained to a hospital bed.But claims that the prison has a "culture of ongoing unconstitutional abuse," as cited in a civil lawsuit, are "attorney embellis......
2009-05-29 01:49:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
The state on Thursday denied Daniel P. Esh a license to continue operating his large-scale dog-breeding kennel in Leacock Township, but his attorney vowed to take the issue to a higher court."Daniel Esh will definitely appeal," said attorney Jeff Conrad of the firm Clymer & M......
2009-05-28 00:53:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Police on Wednesday accused a former Lititz mayoral candidate who also served as the youth group leader at a borough church of having a sexual relationship with a pre-teen girl.Gregory J. Nies, 56, of South Spruce Street, was arraigned Wednesday morning on two felonies and two misdemeanors......
2009-05-28 00:44:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
A veterinarian accused of mutilating a puppy's tail pleaded not guilty to an animal-cruelty charge Wednesday in Lancaster County Court.Dr. Thomas F. Stevenson, of Twin Valley Veterinary Clinic in Honey Brook, faces up to 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted of the misdemea......
2009-05-20 03:51:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A former all-star basketball player at McCaskey High School was sentenced Tuesday to state prison for dealing drugs.Anthony C. Hunter, 20, was sentenced to 2 to 4 years for being involved in cocaine and marijuana sales in Lancaster city.Hunter was among a group of people caught sell......
2009-05-20 03:48:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Police charged a third suspect Tuesday in the gang-related shooting in York that claimed the life of a 9-year-old Lancaster city girl.Two other men previously had been charged in connection with the homicide.Police allege Fernando Valentin Jr., 22, was involved in the fatal Mother&#......
2009-05-19 00:42:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Christiana motorist turned into the path of a police car Sunday, causing a collision that sent the cruiser airborne off a Sadsbury Township road, police said.Frederick Keys' car also was forced off the road in the late-night crash just west of the Lancaster-Chester county line....
2009-05-15 01:11:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Lancaster County jury convicted Shannon Hess on Thursday of first-degree murder for the 2007 killing of his mother-in-law.Hess, a 31-year-old Willow Street man, looked down while his attorney patted his back as the jury foreman announced the verdict at 11:35 a.m.The verdict slip s......
2009-05-14 00:41:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Twelve Lancaster County residents will continue deliberating today over the fate of a Willow Street man accused of killing his mother-in-law.After discussing the case for about 3½ hours Wednesday afternoon, jurors asked Judge Jeffery Wright to be excused until 9 this morning.......
2009-05-14 00:33:00
MICHAEL YODER
A Lancaster Township woman accused of an attack on her husband that allegedly led to his death Saturday is now facing charges from the incident.Tonya Lynese Potter, 41, of 1240 E. Orange St., was charged Tuesday with aggravated assault for allegedly attacking her husband, Robert Potter, 48......
2009-05-13 00:52:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
One by one, friends and relatives passed through a Lancaster County courtroom Tuesday in defense of Shannon Hess, who is accused of killing his mother-in-law at their Willow Street home.First, a group of friends described Hess' reputation in his community as one of "peacefulness.&......
2009-05-12 01:27:00
MICHAEL YODER
Janet Pearson returned to her home Saturday morning after finishing the third shift at Lancaster General Hospital to find the horrific site of a mass of police and ambulances in her neighborhood.Not knowing what happened, Pearson approached the 12-year-old son of her neighbors, Robert and ......
2009-05-12 00:52:00
PATRICK BURNS
A New Holland man was arrested Saturday and charged with molesting a child in East Earl Township.Joseph Benjamin Hock, 34, of 140 E. Main St., was charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault and corruption of minors.East Earl police Chief Kevin McCarthy sai......
2009-05-12 00:49:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Lancaster County jury on Monday convicted a mother of reckless endangerment for giving her 16-month-old son a scalding-hot shower in March 2007.Itza Mari Figueroa-Saez was found guilty of the misdemeanor charge but acquitted of a more serious charge — felony aggravated assault &mda......
2009-05-12 00:41:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman pointed to the recent bust of an alleged major cocaine operation in Ephrata as a reason that community should support the county's Drug Task Force.Unlike most county municipalities, Ephrata borough and township give no money to support t......
2009-05-12 00:38:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A single sock shows accused killer Shannon Hess was present when his mother-in-law was stabbed and beaten to death, prosecutors argued Monday in Lancaster County Court.The bloody sock, which was taken off Hess's right foot hours after Barbara Fritchman was killed in 2007, was shown to ......
2009-05-09 01:06:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Five years from now, Becca Franz hopes, schools struggling with a problem with heroin, bullying or gangs will be able to log on to a single Web site and find help.And she is hoping that help translates into a better future for children who end up having a rewarding life instead of a life o......
2009-05-08 00:42:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Veronica Hess told a Lancaster County jury Thursday that her home and her car were broken into before her mother was brutally murdered in 2007.Bill Frank, the man with whom she was having an affair, broke into her home through a bedroom window using a credit card, Mrs. Hess told jurors. Fr......
2009-05-08 00:38:00
JENNIFER TODD
A man arrested for allegedly robbing a Wrightsville bank Tuesday is a suspect in the armed holdups of nearly a dozen other businesses in southcentral Pennsylvania, police said Thursday.Arien Jamal Moore, 22, of Chanceford Township, York County, was taken into custody shortly after police s......
2009-05-08 00:34:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A New York truck driver was found guilty Wednesday of causing a 2007 vehicle crash in Manheim Township that killed a mother and her daughter.A Lancaster County jury decided that Thomas Lamonda, 52, was guilty of two counts of homicide by vehicle in connection with the fatal collision on Or......
2009-05-07 02:01:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Bill Frank testified Wednesday in Lancaster County Court about the yearlong extramarital affair he had with Veronica Hess.Wearing a gold wedding band, Frank told jurors he knew Hess was married to his co-worker, Shannon Hess, but continued to see her even after their affair became known....
2009-05-06 01:23:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
On the day Barbara Fritchman was killed in her Willow Street home, Donna Ferko-Fox drove by the house and was startled by an "angry" man outside.The man "jumped out" from behind a tree in front of the home at 53 E. Boehms Road, Ferko-Fox told a Lancaster County jury Tue......
2009-05-06 00:29:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Three men who killed a Lancaster city resident while stealing his big-screen television pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and numerous other charges Monday in county court.•••Three Lancaster city residents pleaded guilty this week t......
2009-05-05 00:44:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A "normal man living a normal life" turned into a killer in November 2007 when he found out his wife was having an affair, a prosecutor argued Monday in Lancaster County Court.The "hurt and angry husband" — 30-year-old Shannon Hess — responded to the betraya......
2009-04-30 00:52:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Jurors will be selected this week to hear the case of a Willow Street man accused of killing his mother-in-law in 2007.Lancaster County residents will be questioned as potential jurors beginning this morning before County Judge Jeffery D. Wright. The selection process is expected to last t......
2009-04-28 01:03:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A 44-year-old Philadelphia man stabbed his girlfriend nine times Monday night in Lancaster city, then threatened to kill his daughter, investigators said.Jose Cartagena was at Lancaster city police station late Monday, charged in the stabbing that happened in a home in the 100 block of Cor......
2009-04-24 00:38:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
A veterinarian for some of the area's largest breeding kennels is headed to court on an animal-cruelty charge for allegedly mutilating a puppy's tail.It was a sting operation that landed Dr. Thomas F. Stevenson of Twin Valley Veterinary Clinic in Honey Brook at a preliminary hearin......
2009-04-22 00:48:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Denver man told a Lancaster County Judge Tuesday that his drug addiction led to a "nasty downward spiral" of robbery, theft and high-speed flights from police.Eric Lee Singley, 32, admitted to a multicounty crime spree in 2007 that included nine robberies, forgery offenses and ......
2009-04-21 01:23:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A former prison escapee charged in a six-year East Coast burglary spree was brought to Lancaster County Court on Monday, where he was ordered to stand trial on local charges.Scott Alan Hornick, 37, is in federal custody awaiting trial — or trials — for allegedly belonging to a ......
2009-04-17 00:58:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A 29-year-old Paradise man was sentenced Thursday to at least 20 years in state prison for a series of bizarre break-ins in the county's southern end.Christopher Welk entered two occupied homes and tried to burglarize other homes between 2005 and 2007, according to investigators....
2009-04-14 01:03:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A 12-year-old boy shot his friend at point-blank range Sunday inside an Earl Township home, New Holland police said.The 11-year-old victim was shot in the neck, police said. Somehow he avoided serious injury and was recovering at home Monday night.The shooting was "accidental&q......
2009-04-03 00:58:00
SUSAN E. GRUBB
Three defendants have been added to a lawsuit filed in 2008 over an alleged conspiracy to defeat Roger Snyder's re-election bid for West Donegal Township supervisor in 2007.The amended complaint added township supervisors Steve Speers, Charlie Tupper and Nancy Garber as defendants, acc......
2009-04-01 01:26:00
BRIAN WALLACE
A former Cocalico High School physical education teacher has lost her teaching license for allegedly sending inappropriate text messages and photographs to one of her students.Bonnie Hirneisen, who taught at the school from 2005 to 2009, surrendered her teaching certificate in lieu of bein......
2009-04-01 00:27:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
According to testimony, Tyler Johns, who is accused of killing Kenyon Wright-Carter, had been beaten up and shot at by Wright-Carter before the pair's last encounter on Jan. 24 on Green Street.•••A 16-year-old stabbed Kenyon Wright-......
2009-03-19 00:55:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Yaquan "Squeeze" Williams fired seven shots at Mary Johnson when the woman's back was turned, according to testimony Wednesday in Lancaster County court.Police allege Williams shot Johnson in the back just after 1 a.m. Jan. 23. Four shots struck Johnson, and she fell into the......
2009-03-14 01:38:00
PATRICK BURNS
If you're planning to share some Irish cheer during the week of St. Patrick's Day, you might want to think twice before getting behind the wheel.Ross Deck, DUI sobriety checkpoint coordinator for Lancaster County, said Southcentral PA Regional DUI Task Force and State police will c......
2009-03-13 00:42:00
P.J. REILLY
Colby Dixon, 22, faces more than 20 years behind bars after a jury convicted him Thursday afternoon of attempting to kill another man at a Manheim Township bar in 2007.After deliberating for about four hours, a Lancaster County jury found Dixon, formerly of 731 E. Marion St., guilty of att......
2009-03-12 01:29:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Convicted killer Abraham Sanchez Jr. should pay for the 2007 murder of Ray Diener with his own life, a Lancaster County jury decided Wednesday night.Two days after convicting Sanchez of first-degree murder for shooting Diener to death on the doorstep of his West Donegal Township home, the ......
2009-03-11 01:16:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A convicted killer wept Tuesday as family and friends described how he was abused at home and picked on at school while growing up in Lancaster city.Abraham Sanchez Jr., 20, is facing the death penalty after a Lancaster County jury convicted him Monday of first-degree murder for shooting R......
2009-03-10 01:50:00
TIM STUHLDREHER
A 9-year-old boy brought a loaded 9 mm handgun in his bookbag to Central Manor Elementary School on Monday morning, police and school officials said.Other children notified a teacher, who notified Principal Deborah Holt, Penn Manor School District Superintendent Donald F. Stewart said.......
2009-03-10 01:44:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Lancaster County jury convicted an Elizabethtown man Monday of first-degree murder for what prosecutors called the "cold-blooded" killing of 65-year-old Ray Diener.Argument over whether Abraham Sanchez Jr. will be put to death or spend the rest of his life in prison will begin ......
2009-03-07 01:01:00
P.J. REILLY
The fate of Abraham Sanchez Jr. is expected to be placed in the hands of a Lancaster County jury on Monday.And that panel will take the case without hearing any defense testimony from Sanchez or anyone else.Sanchez's attorney, Robert Kirwan II, rested his case Friday without cal......
2009-03-06 00:48:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Abraham Sanchez Jr. warned his three alleged accomplices not to talk about the killing of Ray Diener, but it was Sanchez himself who could not keep a secret, according to a witness at his trial.One of Sanchez's co-workers at a fast-food restaurant said Thursday that Sanchez described i......
2009-03-05 01:21:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
The four men had "plenty" of chances to walk away from Ray Diener's home without anyone getting hurt, but instead went ahead with an ill-conceived robbery that ended with Diener's slaying.No one second-guessed the plan, however, and the accused triggerman, Abraham Sanchez......
2009-03-04 02:06:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Lorenzo Schrijver described in graphic detail Tuesday how his friend taunted and fatally shot an "old man" on his doorstep and then boasted about it.The "old man" Schrijver referred to was Ray Diener, a 65-year-old Armstrong retiree who was gunned down in 2007 outside h......
2009-02-26 00:54:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Freda Hall Stewart faced her son's killer Wednesday and forgave him for gunning down 19-year-old Ty Hall as he ran from a Lancaster city street fight in 2007.Convicted killer Abdul Walton responded with an apology to her and Hall's other relatives, who packed a Lancaster County cou......
2009-02-25 01:11:00
MADELYN PENNINO
Bartenders aren't baby sitters.That's the opinion of several local people in the bar business in reaction to prosecutors who recently filed involuntary manslaughter charges against a Dauphin County bar in connection with a fatal car crash that happened more than a year ago.O......
2009-02-23 00:06:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
The 20-year-old man accused of shooting Ray Diener to death on his West Donegal Township doorstep in 2007 goes to trial this week.Abraham Sanchez Jr. could face the death penalty for allegedly killing Diener, 65, during a robbery at 1016 West Ridge Road, just south of Elizabethtown.......
2009-02-21 01:56:00
PATRICK BURNS
Police charged a New Holland man Friday with the attempted sexual assault of a woman who had employed the suspect to do work at her home.Byron Collado, 32, of 237 W. Main St., was arrested by Detective Jonathan Heisse, who charged Collado with criminal attempted rape in an incident that oc......
2009-02-19 14:30:00
TOM MURSE
Lancaster City's fire chief said the blaze that killed a 3-year-old boy and severely burned his uncle Wednesday could — and should — have been prevented....
2009-02-19 10:30:00
JACK BRUBAKER
Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman hates meetings with analysts from the state crime lab. From maybe 25 pieces of evidence gathered at a crime site, he must choose one or two spots of blood or other evidence samples to be checked for DNA or fingerprints. The regional lab i......
2009-02-19 00:56:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Wednesday afternoon blaze in southeast Lancaster city killed a 2-year-old boy, seriously injured a man and hospitalized a teenager.Investigators did not release a cause for the two-alarm fire at 440 S. Christian St., but officials do not believe it was intentionally set."Ther......
2009-02-18 18:24:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A 2-year-old boy was killed in a Wednesday afternoon blaze in southeast Lancaster city that also seriously injured a man and hospitalized one other person. ...
2009-02-13 00:27:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Dileef Strickland avoided the death penalty Thursday when a Lancaster County jury convicted him of third-degree murder for the 2007 shooting of Donte Hammond.Prosecutors were seeking a first-degree murder conviction, and ultimately the death penalty, against Strickland, who shot Hammond in......
2009-02-12 00:19:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Dileef Strickland said he didn't realize he had shot Donte Hammond in the back after twice firing his gun — so he kept shooting.In the end, Strickland hit Hammond with four shots from his revolver, ultimately taking Hammond's life. Still, Strickland testified, he felt like th......
2009-02-11 00:42:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Donte Hammond was gunned down on a Lancaster city street after refusing to fight, according to testimony Tuesday in Lancaster County Court.Dileef Strickland shot the 21-year-old four times in the back as Hammond walked across Juniata Street on May 7, 2007, according to testimony.Str......
2009-02-10 00:45:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Twenty-one-year-old Donte Hammond "didn't have a chance" when he was gunned down in front of a Lancaster city home, a witness testified Monday.Brenda Hardy, who had known Hammond for years, said she watched the young man turn away after a conversation with two men and walk to......
2009-02-07 01:08:00
PATRICK BURNS
A man convicted of operating a violent multimillion-dollar cocaine and heroin ring here is in Chester County Prison awaiting trial on capital murder charges.Prince C. "Boo" Isaac, 25, allegedly conspired with his half brother, Shamek Hynson, to kill Omar Reid on Oct. 18, 2004, at......
2009-02-07 00:48:00
BRIAN WALLACE
School District of Lancaster board member Janelle Simms is seeking to have theft charges filed against her last summer after an incident in a Grantville casino dismissed.Simms, who was charged July 28 with taking a $100 bill that belonged to someone else inside Hollywood Casino, applied Mo......
2009-02-05 00:40:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A convicted rapist who recently lived in a former state representative's halfway house in Marietta has been charged with making lewd advances toward women.Richard D. Owen, 52, is accused of making vulgar statements and advances toward at least five women Friday night at Wal-Mart on Lin......
2009-01-30 00:37:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Pittsburgh man was pistol-whipping a woman on a Lancaster city street last year when another man opened fire and killed him, officials say.The fatal shooting of Curtis Howard was justified, the Lancaster County District Attorney's office ruled Thursday, because the shooter, Carlos Oy......
2009-01-29 00:46:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Lancaster teenager is facing life in prison after police charged him with homicide Wednesday for the weekend stabbing of another teen.Tyler Johns, 16, is accused of stabbing Kenyon Wright-Carter, 18, Saturday on Green Street as Wright-Carter sat in a parked car.Wright-Carter spent......
2009-01-26 00:07:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
The latest suspected arson in Lancaster County might be tied to a string of other intentionally set blazes here and in a neighboring county, officials said Sunday.A wooden barn gutted by fire early Sunday in West Lampeter Township is being investigated under the same umbrella as a rash of ......
2009-01-23 00:33:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Mount Joy man avoided a possible death sentence Thursday when a Lancaster County jury acquitted him of charges that he beat his infant daughter to death.Prosecutors were pursuing a first-degree murder verdict — and ultimately the death penalty — against Owen Johnson in the 20......
2009-01-22 00:52:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A defense attorney argued Wednesday that Savannah Johnson became comatose in her father's arms in 2007 because of a beating inflicted hours earlier.A prosecutor countered that the baby girl became comatose during the 5-minute feeding with her father because the severity of her injuries......
2009-01-21 00:26:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Owen Johnson testified Tuesday he had no idea what caused his infant daughter to go limp in his arms as he tried to feed her at the family's Mount Joy home in 2007.The next day, when doctors showed him X-rays of 2-month-old Savannah's swollen brain and fractured skull, the father s......
2009-01-17 00:53:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
Through an American Sign Language interpreter, Owen Johnson told a Lancaster County jury Friday that he was happy when he found out he was going to be a father.Now Johnson, 24, faces the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder for the November 2007 death of his 2-month-old daught......
2009-01-16 01:17:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Owen Johnson's defense team presented a different take on evidence presented by prosecutors regarding the injuries sustained by his daughter shortly before her death.•••A forensic pathologist testified Thursday that the head injurie......
2009-01-15 01:36:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Lancaster County jury was shown in gruesome detail Wednesday the many breaks and bruises 2-month-old Savannah Johnson sustained shortly before her death in 2007.Savannah's father, Owen Johnson, who is on trial in her death, couldn't bear to watch as prosecutors showed graphic sli......
2009-01-14 01:49:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Lancaster County jury returned a split verdict Tuesday in the case of a city man charged in a 2007 shooting.Ricardo Rodriguez was found guilty of aggravated assault for shooting a man — who Rodriguez thought had robbed his home — in the head at point-blank range.The vi......
2009-01-14 01:29:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Two-month-old Savannah Johnson died after sustaining "nonaccidental trauma" to her head in November 2007, according to testimony in Lancaster County Court.Who inflicted the fatal injury remains unclear after two days of testimony at trial.Owen Johnson, the baby girl's ......
2009-01-13 01:58:00
JEFF HAWKES
A city of 98,000, its 49 square miles patrolled by 225 cops, High Point, N.C., is no Mayberry R.F.D.But the innovative way High Point is combating its illegal drug markets — so busy they once created afternoon traffic jams — is something Sheriff Andy Taylor, TV's folksy kee......
2009-01-13 01:49:00
TIM STUHLDREHER
Troy L. Martin died of gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen, Lancaster County Coroner Dr. Stephen Diamantoni said after an autopsy Monday.An unknown assailant fired at least five shots at Martin about 11 p.m. Saturday as he got out of a friend's car in front of his house on Clearvie......
2009-01-13 01:46:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A teenage mother whose infant daughter was beaten to death at the family home in 2007 says her fiancé is a "wonderful man" who always made his daughter smile.The fiancé, 24-year-old Owen Johnson, is on trial this week in the death of 2-month-old Savannah Johnson, wh......
2009-01-09 00:49:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
At first, Aida Rodriguez thought her boyfriend was dead, she testified Thursday in Lancaster County Court.The woman had just watched from an upstairs window as her boyfriend was shot at the front door of the family's Church Street home.A gunman fired two shots toward the house i......
2009-01-08 00:10:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Millersville University student threatened one of his former professors with a knife Wednesday morning, according to school officials.The 29-year-old student, who lives off campus in Manor Township, walked into McComsey Hall on the MU campus and confronted the professor outside his offic......
2009-01-07 00:48:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
The long legal battle over Daniel P. Esh's kennel violations was finally resolved Tuesday.Esh, owner of Scarlet-Maple Farm Kennel, 68 Clearview Road, Ronks, originally faced three misdemeanor charges of housing more than 400 dogs and puppies in unsanitary conditions. The charges stemme......
2009-01-07 00:44:00
TIM STUHLDREHER
The fallout from his painful run-in with Lancaster city police last year hasn't ended for convicted felon Charles Robert Lewis.Two officers shot Lewis, 25, multiple times early Nov. 19 when he allegedly attempted to pull a gun on them as he fled on South Mary Street. The shooting was r......
2009-01-06 00:29:00
PATRICK BURNS
The Lancaster County district attorney said Monday that an error by officials in Puerto Rico allowed a homicide suspect to be released from custody in Lancaster 16 months ago.Fugitive Elvis Quinones-Cruz, 30, was arrested Dec. 31 for the second time in Lancaster, and this time police said ......
2009-01-01 00:05:00
PATRICK BURNS
The killing of Jose A. Diaz on Dec. 13 raised the total slayings in Lancaster County this year to 12, equaling 2007's total.An unknown assailant shot Diaz just outside the Lancaster city border, making it the sixth killing investigated by city police in 2008.Police have made arr......
2008-12-24 00:48:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
An oft-convicted drug dealer was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in federal prison for peddling cocaine in Lancaster city while toting an illegal handgun.Steven U. Rose, 26, was found guilty of felony drug and gun charges after a jury trial in August.On Tuesday in Philadelphia, U.S. D......
2008-12-23 00:59:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Philadelphia man who shot five people — including a toddler — last year in Lancaster city was sentenced Monday to up to 100 years in state prison.County Judge Joseph C. Madenspacher ordered Mark Q. Galloway, 40, to spend at least 41½ years in prison for the shooting ra......
2008-12-20 00:42:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
A Lancaster County jury Friday convicted Abdul Walton of first-degree murder and all other charges related to the March 9, 2007, fatal shooting of Tyquan Hall.Walton, of Philadelphia, faces life in prison plus 80 years for killing Hall and wounding two others outside a house party at 344 S......
2008-12-19 01:19:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
A Lancaster County jury Thursday began deliberating the fate of a Philadelphia man accused of the fatal shooting of Tyquan Hall and the wounding of two others in March 2007.Abdul Walton, 22, faces life in prison plus 80 years if convicted on all charges in the triple shooting: criminal hom......
2008-12-18 01:00:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
A puff of smoke. The crowd quickly scatters. Tyquan Hall drops to the sidewalk. One person, clearly visible in the videotape, paces back and forth in front of Hall's lifeless body.On Wednesday, jurors watched a dramatic videotape of Hall's murder as it was caught by street surveill......
2008-12-17 01:50:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
Prosecutors trying to put Abdul Walton in prison for life for the fatal shooting of Tyquan Hall moved Tuesday from eyewitness testimony to forensic testimony.The four-day trial has so far been devoted almost entirely to building the case against Walton, 22, of Philadelphia.Hall died......
2008-12-17 01:39:00
PATRICK BURNS
State police said a trooper fired two shots in self-defense late Monday in Paradise.No one was struck by the bullets, and two burglary suspects also were Tasered during the incident, police said.Police said the clash occurred when suspects Terry Graham, 34, of Leola, and John Slayma......
2008-12-11 01:08:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A York man was kidnapped, robbed and shot before managing to stumble into a Brownstown convenience store early Wednesday wearing only his underwear, officials said.The 33-year-old told police he was abducted in York, driven to Lancaster County and dumped along Route 222, where he was robbe......
2008-12-11 01:01:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A teenage driver caused a violent three-vehicle crash Wednesday in Manheim Township that killed a woman and injured two people, police said.The 17-year-old Lancaster resident was one of the injured motorists, according to investigators. Manheim Township police said he was driving a sport u......
2008-12-11 00:28:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A jury has been selected for the homicide trial of a Philadelphia man accused of shooting to death 19-year-old Ty Hall last year in Lancaster city.Abdul Walton, 22, is charged with shooting Hall and two others March 9, 2007, in the 300 block of South Prince Street. Hall was trying to break......
2008-12-11 00:26:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A man found dead Saturday inside a burning Salisbury Township cabin fired a bullet into his head after setting the home ablaze, officials said Wednesday.Lancaster County's coroner, however, had yet to rule the death a suicide Wednesday.The deceased, who hasn't been identifie......
2008-12-10 01:06:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
An unidentified man found dead Saturday in a burning Salisbury Township cabin might have been shot to death before the fire started, investigators said Tuesday.An autopsy performed Tuesday morning showed the adult male found at 742 Mount Vernon Road sustained a gunshot wound before his sma......
2008-12-05 01:25:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A convicted felon was ordered back to state prison Tuesday for trying to pull a stolen revolver from his waistband while fighting two police officers in February.Glen Alonzo Steele, 43, was sentenced to 5½ to 12 years, minus one month, for the Feb. 20 fight with Lancaster city polic......
2008-12-04 00:28:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Lancaster County's district attorney says two city police officers were justified when they shot a fleeing convicted felon who tried to pull a gun last month.Craig Stedman said Wednesday that the officers would have been within their rights to fire even earlier than they did as Charles......
2008-12-03 01:00:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Columbia woman was sentenced Tuesday to 5½ to 12 years in state prison for prostituting her 11-year-old son to a woman twice the boy's age.The 35-year-old mother took money from a York woman daily in exchange for sexual trysts with her son from August 2005 to December 2005....
2008-12-02 23:57:00
SUSAN E. GRUBB
The involvement of a West Donegal Township supervisor in a lawsuit resulted in heated discussion but no action during the township meeting Monday.The debate was about whether Supervisor Roger Snyder should remain as a representative to the Northwest Regional Police Commission.Snyder......
2008-12-02 01:08:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A licensed practical nurse will stand trial on the charge she administered a lethal dose of morphine to an 11-year-old East Hempfield Township boy.District Judge David Brian on Monday ordered Joy O'Shea-Woomer to trial after prosecutors presented evidence that she had sole custody of B......
2008-11-28 00:22:00
PATRICK BURNS
Murder suspect Joy O'Shea Woomer is not a career criminal.The East Hempfield resident is a 20-year licensed practical nurse and mother of two who served dual roles as program director and music coordinator at Holy Spirit Lutheran Church.But prosecutors said "interviews and ......
2008-11-27 00:06:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A 20-year-old Morgantown man who recently graduated high school as an "A student" was spared prison Wednesday despite causing a 2007 crash that killed a Blue Ball woman.Joshua Lee Martin pleaded guilty in September to speeding past a stop sign and colliding with Susan Hoover'......
2008-11-15 01:45:00
MICHAEL YODER
A Warwick High School band instructor has been charged with corruption of a minor for allegedly engaging in an "inappropriate relationship" with a 16-year-old student.Michael David Gottier, 22, of Kutztown, was charged by Pennsylvania state police after he allegedly met with the ......
2008-11-15 01:18:00
PATRICK BURNS
Convicted murderer John Wayne Graves Jr. was back in court Friday to learn his fate and hear from the family of the woman he savagely killed.Judge David Ashworth sentenced Graves on Friday to a mandatory sentence of life in prison, one week after he dispassionately declared Graves guilty o......
2008-11-11 00:49:00
MICHAEL YODER
A Philadelphia man will face a charge of homicide for allegedly beating his girlfriend to death on a Lancaster sidewalk early Sunday morning.Kenneth Brown Jr., 29, of the 5700 block of Larchwood Avenue, Philadelphia, is to be charged today by Lancaster city police Detective Jimmy Mummau wi......
2008-11-07 01:22:00
JENNIFER TODD
John Wayne Graves Jr. told police his girlfriend had been abusive. In the past, she punched him in the eye, caused him to lose a tooth and burned his belongings, he said.When she dyed her hair black, "that's when she really became crazy," Graves said.Lancaster city pol......
2008-11-06 01:06:00
JENNIFER TODD
Prosecutors allege John Wayne Graves Jr. set his live-in girlfriend on fire. Just hours later, he was smoking crack and playing cards and video games, a friend of the accused testified Wednesday.Gregory Mitchell also said Graves was "jittery and drank a lot of beer" at a home on ......
2008-11-04 00:01:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A local paramedic recounted the indicting words of a dying woman Monday in front of a Lancaster County judge."My boyfriend did this," Diane Ray quoted the woman as saying. "He poured gasoline on me and set me on fire."The powerful testimony came on the opening da......
2008-10-31 00:09:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
The families who lost loved ones in a March crash on Route 30 got their chance Thursday to speak to the drunken driver responsible for the deaths of three men.Sarah Timblin, the 23-year-old Washington Boro woman who was behind the wheel, got the chance to apologize.At a hearing in L......
2008-10-30 00:39:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Prosecutors said Wednesday they will not seek the death penalty against Michael Roseboro, a 41-year-old funeral director accused of killing his wife in July.Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman said the circumstances of the case do not fit the criteria for a death-penalty case ......
2008-10-30 00:34:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
The lifestyle and attitude of a self-proclaimed teenage "gangster" were outlined Wednesday in Lancaster County Court.At the hearing, Kewuan Jones, 17, was sentenced to 5 to 10 years in state prison for a 2007 armed robbery at a Manheim Township convenience store.But before......
2008-10-23 02:42:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Police charged a Lititz teenager Wednesday with involuntary manslaughter for allegedly injecting a Manheim Central High School senior with a lethal dose of heroin at a sleepover party.The 16-year-old boy, who was not named because he is a juvenile, also was charged with delivery of heroin,......
2008-10-22 01:12:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
An East Lampeter Township man has been charged with criminal homicide in the stabbing death of another man, investigators said Tuesday.Timothy Lagrone used "brutally excessive deadly force" when he repeatedly stabbed a Manheim man Saturday night inside the accused's home at 2......
2008-10-21 02:00:00
JENNIFER TODD
The death of a Manheim man who was beaten and stabbed, allegedly during a fight Saturday evening at an East Lampeter Township home, has been ruled a homicide, officials said Monday.An autopsy performed Monday showed that Barry Moore Jr., 38, of South Charlotte Street, died from multiple st......
2008-10-21 01:52:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Two young victims of sexual assault confronted their assailant with harsh words Monday in Lancaster County Court.Richard M. McFalls was sentenced to 10 years of probation at the hearing, after the two sisters he assaulted in 2005 berated the defendant for ruining their lives.McFalls......
2008-10-21 01:50:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Lancaster city man with a criminal history dating to the 1970s was sentenced Monday to at least 10 years in prison for breaking into an occupied home last year.Larry G. Griffin, 50, was convicted by a jury in July of entering a North Plum Street home while a teenage girl and her infant s......
2008-10-17 01:12:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
The "troubling" behavior of a convicted sex offender was outlined in Lancaster County Court Thursday before a judge ordered the man back to state prison for at least four more years.A county judge sentenced Robert J. Fink, originally convicted in 2001 of indecent assault of a per......
2008-10-16 01:31:00
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Freeman May has again been sentenced to die for killing a young Lancaster County woman in 1982.The sentence, handed down by a Lebanon County jury Wednesday, marks the third time the Narvon man has been given the death penalty for the murder of 22-year-old Kathy Lynn Fair. Fair's skelet......
2008-10-13 00:08:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Lancaster County judge sentenced a Columbia man to at least one year in prison for stealing more than $225,000 from his church.Paul B. Hines, former treasurer at the small St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Columbia, pleaded guilty in July to a dozen felony theft charges. He a......
2008-10-11 00:49:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A former Warwick High School band director pleaded guilty Friday to having a series of sexual trysts with a student between 2006 and 2008.Todd Sheerer pleaded to six misdemeanor counts of corruption of minors for having the relationship, beginning in January 2006, when the female student w......
2008-10-08 02:30:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A nurse was charged Tuesday with causing the death of a chronically ill East Hempfield boy while caring for him in 2002.Joy O'Shea-Woomer, 48, of Valley Drive, was charged with criminal homicide and two other felonies for giving 11-year-old Brent Weaver a "lethal dose" of mor......
2008-10-03 18:45:00
TAYLOR BUNDY, 18, Freestyle
Everybody noticed the balloon arch first. As students filed into the room, their eyes wandered toward the red, white and blue display which stretched over the stage.Manheim Township High School seniors entered the school's Convocation Hall and took their seats before a stage strung wit......
2008-09-30 00:26:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Jasper Bragg previously pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a female Millersville University student.•••A former Millersville University student was sentenced Monday to at least 2½ years in state prison for sexually assaulting ......
2008-09-27 01:20:00
MICHAEL YODER
A Manheim man is accused of raping a woman in a Rapho Township home two weeks ago.Steven Silva, 35, was taken into custody by state police for allegedly raping an unnamed female victim at 4 a.m. Sept. 10 at 2249 Donough Drive.According to phone records, Silva lives at the address....
2008-09-27 01:19:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Michael Roseboro was ordered Friday to stand trial for the death of his wife after prosecutors presented testimony from police, neighbors and Roseboro's alleged mistress.District Judge Nancy Hamill ruled that she heard sufficient evidence during a three-hour preliminary hearing to bind......
2008-09-25 01:32:00
JENNIFER TODD
Police have concluded that a beating captured on cell-phone cameras and posted online was not orchestrated for Internet entertainment.•••The assault of a teenager on the Millersville University campus earlier this month was not carried ......
2008-09-19 01:19:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
The death of a 90-year-old Lancaster County woman who had a heart attack two days after being robbed at gunpoint has been ruled a homicide, according to police and the county coroner.Anna M. Sensenig's heart attack was "directly" caused by the home invasion, officials said Th......
2008-09-17 01:15:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Leola woman was convicted Tuesday of felony perjury for lying in court during a bitter custody dispute with her son's father.Lancaster County Judge Howard F. Knisely relayed his verdict Tuesday morning, finding Wendy Flanders guilty of perjury and two misdemeanor charges.Fland......
2008-09-16 00:34:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Lancaster County judge could rule today on whether a Leola woman committed felony perjury when she filed a police report against her son's father.Prosecutors allege Wendy Flanders, 48, lied about being assaulted by the man during a custody exchange at the Lancaster city police statio......
2008-09-15 00:26:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
An Ephrata man was convicted last week on three felony charges for setting fire to his church in 2006.A Lancaster County jury returned the guilty verdicts Friday against 31-year-old Chad A. Rolf, deliberating for more than two hours before the verdicts were read at 1:20 p.m....
2008-09-12 02:20:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
It might have been one of the quickest mistrials in Lancaster County history.Leacock Township kennel owner Daniel P. Esh's trial for alleged state dog-law violations already had been delayed a day because of a host of pretrial motions flying back and forth. On Thursday, when it finally......
2008-09-10 01:11:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Philadelphia man Tuesday admitted shooting his former girlfriend and four other people outside a Lancaster city home last year.Mark Q. Galloway, 40, was scheduled to stand trial this week for the shooting rampage at 516 Hand Ave., but instead he pleaded guilty.He pleaded to 10 fel......
2008-09-10 01:08:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Convicted killer Warren Trent showed no remorse Tuesday for shooting his former girlfriend. Instead, he blamed the victim and her family during a bizarre statement at his sentencing hearing.Trent was sentenced to a mandatory life term without parole for shooting to death Amy Lynn Matz in D......
2008-09-08 00:06:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A 20-year-old Morgantown man has pleaded guilty to homicide by vehicle for causing a 2007 crash that killed an East Earl Township woman.Joshua Lee Martin was speeding in his Mazda coupe as he ran a stop sign at a Caernarvon Township intersection Oct. 12, according to court documents. Marti......
2008-09-05 02:06:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Seven members of a local cocaine-dealing "enterprise" were charged Thursday with offenses that could keep them all locked up for life.The U.S. Attorney's office has filed 26 felony counts against the Lancaster-based Plowden Drug Trafficking Organization, officials said....
2008-09-04 01:00:00
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Meghan Lippiatt, who was found not guilty by reason of insanity for killing her two sons, said she is "not a monster" hours after a Lancaster County judge Wednesday denied a prosecutor's request to have her committed to a mental-health facility.Lippiatt said she was suffering......
2008-08-29 02:43:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A 29-year-old Lancaster Township man who police say was driving with a suspended license when he caused a fatal two-car crash in Columbia Borough will stand trial.Jose L. Alicea was staring at a woman waiting to cross the street when he drove through an intersection and struck John Schlott......
2008-08-29 02:39:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Steve Clayton was ordered Thursday to stand trial after prosecutors presented testimony tying him to the stabbing death of a Lancaster resident.Jeff Kerek, 57, was found dead in early April inside his Hershey Avenue home. Lancaster city police say he was stabbed to death during the course ......
2008-08-27 01:16:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
One of four Lancaster city residents charged with the 2006 murder of Shawn "Red" Hutchinson was sentenced Tuesday to 10 to 20 years in state prison.Liz Rosario-Casanova, 30, was the final defendant to be sentenced for the drug-related killing that occurred outside a city apartmen......
2008-08-22 01:21:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A 27-year-old New Holland man was charged Thursday with sexually assaulting a 4-year-old girl, police said.John R. Reid is accused of fondling the girl at his home in the 300 block of South Railroad Avenue, New Holland Police Detective Jonathan Heisse said.Heisse said he charged Rei......
2008-08-21 01:25:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Police have charged a 10-year-old New Holland girl with the sexual assault last month of two 4-year-old girls. No one younger has ever been charged with a sexual offense in Lancaster County, according to officials.New Holland Detective Jonathan Heisse on Wednesday charged the girl with two......
2008-08-13 00:44:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Lebanon dump truck driver was charged Tuesday with causing the roadway death of a 73-year-old Bowmansville man and injuring his passenger.Shane Reichard, 31 of Elm Street, faces a felony charge of homicide by vehicle, misdemeanor reckless endangerment and three traffic violations, accord......
2008-08-12 01:28:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
The mishandling of a 911 call on the morning of a triple-murder in Manheim Township delayed police response time to the victims' home, officials said.Still, county officials say, a cleaner dispatch likely wouldn't have saved any of the three members of the Haines family or resulted......
2008-08-07 01:37:00
JEFF HAWKES
You might be on the fence about home rule, but I bet you're not on the fence about paying taxes.That's why a change the Government Study Commission made Tuesday to its proposed 27-page charter should grab the attention of undecided voters.If voters in November approve the ch......
2008-08-07 00:58:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Michael A. Roseboro's defense attorney lashed out at Lancaster County investigators Wednesday, claiming they rushed to charge an innocent man with the slaying of his wife.Allan L. Sodomsky, who represents the Denver funeral director, said investigators, led by Lancaster County District......
2008-08-06 01:07:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
A city man convicted in May on eight counts of animal cruelty for cockfighting has been sentenced to up to a year in prison.Misael Torres Colon was sentenced Friday by Judge Margaret Miller to 6 months to a year in prison, 3 years' probation and 200 hours of community service and order......
2008-08-05 00:57:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Michael Roseboro was willing to do anything to be rid of his wife so he could marry his mistress, including killing her, investigators said Monday.Roseboro — arrested Saturday and charged with criminal homicide — had the motive and opportunity to kill Jan Roseboro, the mother o......
2008-08-01 01:02:00
P.J. REILLY
It's been more than a week since Jan Roseboro was killed inside her Reinholds home July 22.As of Thursday evening, no arrests had been made in the slaying of the 45-year-old mother of four.Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman said that doesn't mean authorities ar......
2008-07-28 00:06:00
P.J. REILLY
The Rev. Larry Hummer said he understands police have a job to do investigating the slaying of Jan Roseboro, 45, at her Reinholds home Tuesday.But the pastor of Faith United Lutheran Church in Denver, which Hummer said Jan Roseboro and her family have attended for the past 20 years, also r......
2008-07-17 00:43:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Washington Boro woman admitted in Lancaster County Court on Wednesday that she was drunk when she drove the wrong way on Route 30 and struck a car head-on, killing three men.Sarah L. Timblin, 23, pleaded guilty before President Judge Louis Farina to six felonies and a pair of misdemeanor......
2008-07-15 02:02:00
JENNIFER TODD and LAURA FREEMAN
A Lancaster County jury Monday convicted a 23-year-old man of first-degree murder for killing a woman inside the East Lampeter Township apartment they shared.Jurors deliberated for less than one hour before finding Pedro Fuentes Flores guilty of murdering 48-year-old Karen Crowley in May 2......
2008-07-14 00:23:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Patrick Meehan's time in the spotlight didn't last long. And that could be to his advantage.The U.S. attorney who oversees Pennsylvania's eastern district announced his resignation July 7, and immediately the political realm began chatting about the possibility of the Republica......
2008-07-12 01:43:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Lancaster County jury watched a slide show Friday depicting the horrific homicide scene that Pedro Fuentes Flores allegedly left behind.Jurors also saw autopsy slides showing the wounds inflicted upon Karen Crowley, the woman prosecutors say Flores killed.Prosecutors presented the......
2008-07-11 01:00:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
After Pedro Fuentes Flores repeatedly stabbed Karen Crowley, making sure she was dead, he robbed her and burned her body, prosecutors said Thursday in Lancaster County Court.During his opening statement, Assistant District Attorney Christopher P. Larsen, who is seeking a first-degree murde......
2008-07-11 00:50:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
The attorney for triple-killer Alec D. Kreider has asked a judge to change his client's sentence from three terms of life in prison to be served consecutively to essentially one term of life in prison.Kreider, 17, of Manheim Township, pleaded guilty last month, admitting he killed Tom ......
2008-07-10 18:00:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Correction — The story below, posted on LancasterOnline Tuesday, about the resignation of U.S. Attorney Patrick L. Meehan incorrectly reported the results of Meehan's prosecution of Lancaster County builder Philip Garland. Garland pleade......
2008-07-09 02:00:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A 15-year-old girl told a Lancaster County jury Tuesday that she endured multiple sexual encounters with a man more than 20 years her senior beginning when she was 11 years old.The accused — 35-year-old Joel Ortiz of Lancaster Township — is on trial this week on nine felony and......
2008-07-05 00:03:00
JANET KELLEY
Joseph P. Geesey was 22 and unemployed, with a wife and family to support, when he first walked into the Lancaster city police station looking for work."There was no message from God, I just needed a job," he said. "Plain and simple."The police hired him, trained......
2008-07-04 00:04:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A man accused of robbing a Lancaster city convenience store at gunpoint then fleeing in a stolen pickup truck was ordered this week to stand trail.Henry Medina-Cedeno and defense attorney Barrie Wellener waived a preliminary hearing at District Judge Mary Sponaugle's office Wednesday. ......
2008-07-03 01:15:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
When 14-year-old Evelyn Fisher of New Holland disappeared in 1981, law-enforcement officials were baffled.They were certain Gerald Zimmerman, 29, had murdered the girl, but they had not found a body.Then Lancaster County District Attorney Michael H. Ranck had an inspiration. He call......
2008-07-01 01:18:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A judge Monday sentenced a Lititz man to 4 months in prison for hitting a boy walking to school with his car last year and then speeding away to elude police.Dayton Lee Cassel, 21, has already served 28 days at Lancaster County Prison for the Oct. 24 hit-and-run at West Lemon and Mary stre......
2008-07-01 00:55:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Lancaster County man with an extensive criminal record was sentenced Monday to 8 to 23 months in prison for his third fight with a police officer.County Judge Howard F. Knisely told Terry Graham the latest sentence is the defendant's last chance to have a "wake-up call" and......
2008-06-18 01:20:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
During the 35 days the murders of three Manheim Township family members went unsolved last year, speculation and theories about the case abounded.Tom and Lisa Haines and their 16-year-old son, Kevin, were stabbed to death in their bedrooms early one May morning.Initially, the killer......
2008-06-18 01:07:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A judge sentenced Alec Kreider to spend the rest of his days in state prison Tuesday after the 17-year-old admitted killing a Manheim Township couple and their teenage son.Kreider, a former Manheim Township High School student, pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder 13 month......
2008-06-17 00:37:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Warren Trent was convicted Monday of first-degree murder for killing his ex-girlfriend in 2004, despite defense arguments that he was insane when he shot 34-year-old Amy Matz.A Lancaster County jury returned their guilty verdict at 1:45 p.m. — after about three hours of deliberation.......
2008-06-14 00:58:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Accused killer Warren Trent testified at his murder trial Friday afternoon, often rambling in response to attorneys' questions during a bizarre 70-minute tirade on the stand.Trent, 51, is charged with first-degree murder for killing his ex-girlfriend, 34-year-old Amy Matz, in his Caern......
2008-06-13 01:32:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Lancaster County judge ruled this week that evidence against accused killer Pedro Fuentes Flores — including the suspect's conversations with police about the death of Karen Crowley and the alleged murder weapon — will be allowed at the man's trial.Judge David L. Ashw......
2008-06-12 01:19:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Warren Trent's allegations that his ex-girlfriend poisoned him were rebutted Wednesday by several medical professionals who testified in Lancaster County Court.Trent, on trial this week on a homicide charge for the 2004 killing of Amy Matz, told investigators he was poisoned two days b......
2008-06-12 00:44:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
A home with a grim history has been given a new lease.The 1940s Colonial-revival stone house at 85 Peach Lane in Manheim Township, where Tom and Lisa Haines and their 16-year-old son, Kevin, were slain last year, has been sold.The house was sold May 29 for $248,000, according to Ran......
2008-06-11 01:58:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Accused killer Warren Trent dialed 911 shortly after he allegedly shot his ex-girlfriend, but refused dispatchers' repeated instructions to attempt to revive Amy Matz — who was gasping for life on a bedroom floor, according to testimony Tuesday.Prosecutors played the lengthy 911 ......
2008-06-06 02:41:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Seventeen-year-old Alec Kreider is scheduled to plead guilty this month to killing a Manheim Township family last year inside their home, according to court documents and Lancaster County's district attorney.Kreider, a former Manheim Township High School student, is charged with three coun......
2008-06-06 02:30:00
JENNIFER TODD
Kennel owners hope Thursday's educational seminar on dog-law compliance was the start of an improved relationship with animal-cruelty officials."Someone had to take the first step and, hopefully, this is the day," Michael Glass, of Chester County, said. "There are a lot ......
2008-06-05 02:09:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Testimony Wednesday at a pre-trial evidence-suppression hearing regarding a murder last year in East Lampeter Township detailed a "brutal" crime scene left behind by accused killer Pedro Fuentes Flores.Officer Lisa Gehr took the stand and spoke about investigators' initial co......
2008-06-05 02:04:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Lancaster woman who testified against two co-defendants in March was sentenced Wednesday to 6 to 12 years in state prison for her role in the 2006 killing of Shawn "Reds" Hutchinson.Rachel Rakita, 32, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and was sentenced by county Judge Denni......
2008-06-03 01:35:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Citing Todd Sheerer's "blatant and knowing disregard" for the law, a Lancaster County judge Monday tacked $1 million onto his bail after reproaching the former Warwick High School teacher for contacting the student he is accused of sexually exploiting.Judge Jeffery Wright inc......
2008-06-03 01:31:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Stevens man was sentenced Monday to 8½ to 30 years in state prison for numerous sexual assaults on a young female, including rape, beginning when the girl was 5 years old.A jury in March found Michael John Lawrence, 22, guilty of rape of a child and other offenses for the assaults......
2008-05-30 02:05:00
JOHN WALK
Hoping to purchase a variety of items this weekend but have time for only a one-stop shop?You might be in luck.The 18th annual Lancaster County Drug Task Force auction is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Saturday in the Lancaster County park building at 950 Eshelman Mill Road.The......
2008-05-28 01:09:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Local detectives said they nabbed an "upper-level" heroin dealer this weekend who is accused of bringing drugs here from New York and Philadelphia.David R. Lausell, 35, of New Holland, was arrested after detectives stopped his vehicle early Saturday morning on Route 23 in East Ea......
2008-05-26 00:06:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Lancaster County judge sentenced a young man Thursday to state prison for a gun crime that he said gives Lancaster city a "reputation" as an "unsafe place."Another young county resident was sentenced for having an illegal gun on an East Petersburg street.Judge ......
2008-05-24 01:10:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
A York County judge ordered Wrightsville Mayor Steve Rambler immediately removed from office because of his 1996 felony extortion conviction.But whether Rambler will vacate office without a fight remains to be seen.Rambler could not be reached for comment Friday, but the York Dispat......
2008-05-23 02:02:00
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
The "Smoketown Six," a group of protesters who were arrested after posing as thong-wearing Abu-Ghraib prisoners during a 2004 campaign stop in Lancaster County by President George W. Bush, have lost their appeal of a lawsuit lodged against state police.A panel of three federal ju......
2008-05-23 01:45:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Lancaster city man was sentenced Monday to 6 to 23 months in prison for committing more than a dozen car break-ins late last year.Lancaster County President Judge Louis Farina also ordered Milton Coleman to undergo a drug-rehabilitation program before his release from prison.Colem......
2008-05-22 02:14:00
P.J. REILLY and JOHN WALK
Assistant District Attorney Monica Mosley has been all but shouting from the rooftops trying to find volunteers in Lancaster city willing to sit on city youth aid panels.So far, however, her words have fallen on deaf ears."For whatever reason, we're not getting the support ......
2008-05-21 11:15:00
ROBYN MEADOWS
Taylor Pearson is beyond angry. Two Manheim Central Middle School students, both girls, allegedly threatened to shoot her 14-year-old daughter and her daughter's friend on MySpace, a social networking Web site. Pearson is also upset that the Manheim Central School District has not been res......
2008-05-21 02:00:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT and BRIAN WALLACE
Another Lancaster County high school became embroiled in a sex scandal Tuesday when police arrested the former leader of McCaskey High School's gospel choir and accused him of having a seven-month sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student.Police arrested Norman McMillan III, 25, a......
2008-05-21 01:31:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A serial house burglar with a "far-above-average IQ," according to a Lancaster County judge, was sentenced Monday to 3 to 6 years in state prison.Michael William Rowland, 28, of Peach Bottom, and his attorney told Judge Jeffery Wright he broke into six homes in 2006 to feed a her......
2008-05-20 02:12:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
More than 300 concerned Conestoga residents turned out for an unruly meeting Monday night about a halfway house that has put three sex offenders in their midst.Barnabas House was recently opened by former state Rep. Tom Armstrong at 3113 Main St., an apartment building owned by Ben Vonderh......
2008-05-20 01:26:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
In January, a Lancaster County jury convicted Robert Zuber of criminal trespass for entering his ex-girlfriend's home uninvited and for attempting to intimidate a witness.At his sentencing Monday, Zuber said he was misrepresented at trial and pleaded with the judge to amend the felony ......
2008-05-16 01:46:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
A Lancaster County jury will begin deliberating today on the fate of a Manheim man accused of severely beating his girlfriend, then forcing her into a closet so police wouldn't find her.Bruce E. McLaughlin, 43, is charged with aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and unlawful rest......
2008-05-15 01:49:00
P.J. REILLY
Robert Wilson allegedly had been conning people and passing bad checks in Lancaster County for years, and getting away with it, according to authorities.Early Wednesday morning, however, the 38-year-old landscaper and contractor, wanted as a fugitive in Connecticut and facing five outstand......
