Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Murder probes make long weekend for investigators...

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Wednesday 27 November, 2002

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Murder probes make long weekend for investigators

Carl Hessler Jr., [email-masked]

November 26, 2002

NORRISTOWN -- A rare murderous trail began developing about 7:30 a.m. last Friday, and by Monday morning, the bodies had piled up.

During an unusual 67-hour period, Montgomery County’s seasoned homicide detectives and prosecutors faced the burdensome task of taking part in the investigation of six murders in the region.

"It was extraordinary," Montgomery County First Assistant District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman recalled Monday. "It got to the point by the middle of the weekend, whenever my phone rang I wondered, ‘What’s going to happen next?’"

District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr., a career prosecutor since 1985, recalled there was a "similar spate of terrible crimes" in a brief period of time about a decade ago.

"They are rare," Castor said about such occurrences. "Montgomery County is still a safe place to live. It’s just that this past weekend has been particularly busy for law enforcement."

In addition to the six murders, investigators responded to the scene of two other deaths that were eventually determined not to be foul play. The string of investigations had detectives crisscrossing the county from Pottstown to Horsham.

"It’s not so much that there were so many. It was that detectives were going back and forth from one case to the next. New information was rushing in on all the cases at the same time," a visibly weary Ferman said.

Castor had just returned from a vacation when he got word of the first bodies being found.

"I got back into town on Friday afternoon and my various communication devices were lit up with reports of things going on. Each one required crime scene investigators to assist them and there was a lot of Nextel use," Castor said.

With the exhaustive investigations came overtime and sleep deprivation for detectives.

"It was very taxing. We are set up to handle two major events at any given time. I know from my experience that two is a lot and three is very, very difficult to manage," Castor said. "Our forces were spread thin throughout the county."

Investigations were ongoing simultaneously in East Norriton and Lower Providence Monday morning.

"We have been very fortunate that we’ve had local detectives, especially in Lower Providence and Pottstown, to partner up with," Castor said.

So far this year, there have been 15 murders in the county. In 2001, there were 13 murders.

•

The first bodies were discovered about 7:30 a.m. Friday in Towpath Park in East Coventry, Chester County, by a trash pick up crew.

Kerry and Katherine Schadler, newlyweds of eight months, were found strangled and dumped in the park. The case was listed as a triple homicide because Katherine Schadler was five-months pregnant.

While the crime scene was in Chester County, detectives from Montgomery County also responded to the area because the victims hailed from Pottstown and were allegedly kidnapped from their North Charlotte Street home.

Montgomery County detectives spent Friday and Saturday assisting Chester County authorities with questioning suspects and witnesses. Two men, Michael McGrory, 29, of North Coventry, and Matthew J. Eshbach, 27, of Pottstown, have been charged with murder. The accused killers will be tried in Chester County.

"I have agreed to permit Chester County to assume jurisdiction of the kidnapping and the murder because the bodies were found in Chester County and we think the killings occurred in Chester County," Castor explained.

•

At about 3 p.m. Friday, an extremely decomposed body was found in McCann Park, located off Sandy Street, close to Tremont Cemetery, in Norristown’s East End.

County detectives spent most of the night combing the area with borough police for clues.

While an autopsy couldn’t provide a positive identification, authorities believe the body may be that of 28-year-old Jennifer Ottey, a Norristown resident who was reported missing Nov. 14. No arrests have been made in the case.

"We are still trying to say with certainty that the woman found in the park is in fact Jennifer Ottey. We can’t say that yet," Castor said.

•

About 11:47 a.m. Saturday, the body of Alice Hufnagle Lauman, 67, was found in a home in the 2900 block of North Whitehall Road in East Norriton. The victim died as a result of a combination of strangulation and asphyxiation, according to Castor. The investigation is in the early stages and there are no suspects, authorities said.

"There is some indication at the scene of a possible break-in," Castor revealed. "We are not discounting that possibility, but the detectives are investigating whether it may have been set up to look that way to cover up for either a sexually motivated killing or some other motivation that we do not yet know of."

•

Finally at 3 a.m. Monday, Lower Providence police and county detectives investigating a reported overdose at a Sanderling Circle home found the body of Irving Donald Snook, a white string wrapped tightly around his neck. Snook’s son, James, 25, was ultimately charged with strangling his father to death and attempting to strangle his mother, according to court documents.

"Right now, the motive for the attacks is too sketchy so we can’t speculate on it," Castor said.

•

In addition to being actively involved in six murder investigations, county detectives contended with two other death investigations in Horsham over the weekend.

According to Castor, authorities investigated the strangulation death of a 15-month-old child. It was ruled accidental after it was determined the child became wrapped in a drapery cord. A 38-year-old woman, whose family has a history of congenital heart problems, was also found dead. There is no indication of foul play, Castor said.

©The Mercury 2002

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