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Lancaster County

'Coward' Husband Gets Life For Strangling PA Mom; Daughter Discovers Body: DA 'Coward' Husband Gets Life For Strangling PA Mom; Daughter Discovers Body: DA
'Coward' Husband Gets Life For Strangling PA Mom; Daughter Discovers Body: DA A Penn Township man who admitted to strangling his wife to death has been sentenced to life in prison, Lancaster County prosecutors announced on Thursday, July 24, 2025. Matthew Scott Harrison, 49, pleaded guilty to Felony First-Degree Murder and Felony Strangulation for killing his wife, Jami Harrison, 49, originally from Manheim, at their home on the 2200 block of East Mount Hope Road on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. He was sentenced Wednesday, July 23 by Judge Jeffrey Conrad to life in prison plus five to 10 years. The judge condemned Harrison’s actions as “one of the most cowardly acts a man ca…
PA Man's Therapy Sessions Uncover Child Sex Assaults He Committed: Affidavit PA Man's Therapy Sessions Uncover Child Sex Assaults He Committed: Affidavit
PA Man's Therapy Sessions Uncover Child Sex Assaults He Committed: Affidavit A Manheim Borough man allegedly confessed to sexually assaulting a child under his care 10 times last month, according to police and court documents. Richard Joshua Briskie, 70, told the child’s parents he had touched their daughter’s genitals multiple times while she was at his home in May, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed by Manheim Borough Police. He told police that he had recently made the same confession to his therapist, a mandated reporter, and wanted to tell the family himself. Briskie, of 38 North Clay Street, had a supervisory role over the child and was regularl…
Driver Killed, 3 Injured In Jeep Rollover On Icy Rt 222: West Earl Police Driver Killed, 3 Injured In Jeep Rollover On Icy Rt 222: West Earl Police
Driver Killed, 3 Injured In Jeep Rollover On Icy Rt 222: West Earl Police A deadly rollover crash on an icy stretch of Route 222 left one person dead and three others injured, West Earl Township police announced on Monday, Feb. 3. The crash occurred at mile marker 40.3 in the northbound lanes at approximately 10:20 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 2, authorities said. Responding officers found a 2019 Jeep Wrangler overturned on its roof off the roadway. The vehicle was carrying five occupants, according to police. Three individuals sustained minor injuries and were taken to area hospitals, while one person was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The identity of the d…
German Man Who Lied About Age, Made Fake ID To Assault PA Teen Sentenced German Man Who Lied About Age, Made Fake ID To Assault PA Teen Sentenced
German Man Who Lied About Age, Made Fake ID To Assault PA Teen Sentenced A German man who created a fake ID and lied about his age to have sex with a 15-year-old Pennsylvania girl will spend up to a decade in prison, officials announced. Erik Weidling, 21, of Enger, Germany, was sentenced to four and a half to 10 years in state prison after pleading guilty to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, unlawful contact with a minor, statutory sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, corruption of minors, and criminal use of a communication facility, Lancaster County prosecutors said. Weidling met the girl online and flew to Pennsylvania in February 2024, staying…
VA Man Who Came To PA For Sex With Child Stays For Prison Sentence: DA VA Man Who Came To PA For Sex With Child Stays For Prison Sentence: DA
VA Man Who Came To PA For Sex With Child Stays For Prison Sentence: DA A Virginia man who pleaded guilty in connection to traveling to Pennsylvania to have sex with a child has been sentenced, the Lancaster County District Attorney's office announced on Tuesday, Feb. 20.  Tanner Iskra, 38 of the 2100 block of Harpoon Drive, Stafford, VA, pleaded guilty in Sept. 2023 to attempted statutory sexual assault (11 years older), attempted corruption of minors, and criminal use of a communication facility, DA Heather Adams detailed in the release.  Iskra was sentenced to 11-23 months in prison, eight years of probation, and he must register as a sex offender …
'Nightmare' Ends For PA Girl Raped Over 9 Years Starting When She Was 6: DA 'Nightmare' Ends For PA Girl Raped Over 9 Years Starting When She Was 6: DA
'Nightmare' Ends For PA Girl Raped Over 9 Years Starting When She Was 6: DA A conviction for a young woman's rapist is the end of her "nightmare," Lancaster District Attorney's office explained in a release on Oct. 19.  Miguel Morciglio-Figueroa, 41 of the 300 block of North Franklin Street, Lancaster City raped the now 19-year-old woman starting when she was six until she was 15 years old, the DA's office detailed in the release on Thursday. “It is too late to get her innocence back,” Assistant District Attorney Benjamin Baker said in concluding his closing argument. “It is too late to get her childhood back. But it’s not too late to give her dignity ba…
Lititz Man Who Faced Up To 339 Years In Jail Gets Much Lighter Sentence: DA Lititz Man Who Faced Up To 339 Years In Jail Gets Much Lighter Sentence: DA
Lititz Man Who Faced Up To 339 Years In Jail Gets Much Lighter Sentence: DA A 339-year sentence, for what? Well, Melvin Riehl Petersheim, 49, of Lititz, has admitted to raping children and on March 21, 2023 he got his final sentence.  Petersheim, who ironically lived on Integrity Drive, had been charged with raping and sexually assaulting four victims spanning from 2012 until 2021. Petersheim pleaded guilty to 27 charges Wednesday, according to the district attorney. The charges stem from a child welfare report sent to the Manheim Township police department by the Lancaster County Children & Youth in Nov. 2021. Interviews confirmed numerous instants of ab…
Rapist Will Spend Quarter Century Behind Bars: Lancaster DA Rapist Will Spend Quarter Century Behind Bars: Lancaster DA
Rapist Will Spend Quarter Century Behind Bars: Lancaster DA A 52-year-old Columbia man has received a sentence for a rape "reserved for the worst of the worst," Assistant District Attorney Fritz Haverstick said in a release on Thursday, January 19.  Steele Helton was found guilty of three felony counts: rape, involuntary deviant sexual intercourse, and sexual assault after a two-day trial on October 19, 2022.  The charges were based on the following: "On January 27, 2021, the victim contacted Manor Township Police Department to report a sexual assault that occurred at a residence on Water Street in Columbia between 9:3…
West Chester Employee Stole $5K From Borough, Police Say West Chester Employee Stole $5K From Borough, Police Say
West Chester Employee Stole $5K From Borough, Police Say A West Chester parking officer faces more than just a ticket after police say he was caught stealing cash from the Borough's coffers.  Hector Mojica, a 59-year-old from Lancaster County, is accused of stealing $5,000 while working for West Chester's Parking Enforcement Division, said borough police in a statement.  The former borough employee is charged with three felonies, including theft and receiving stolen property, police added. Mojica was booked Wednesday, Jan. 11 and released on $10,000 bail, court records show. 
'Nightmares' Brought 5 Years Of Child Rapes To Light In Pennsylvania: DA 'Nightmares' Brought 5 Years Of Child Rapes To Light In Pennsylvania: DA
'Nightmares' Brought 5 Years Of Child Rapes To Light In Pennsylvania: DA A central Pennsylvania man has been convicted for raping and sexually assaulting multiple children over a period of five years, authorities say. Victor Charles Smith, 43, of the 3500 block of Lincoln Highway East, Kinzers, was found guilty two years after the victims came forward following nightmares of their abuse which plagued them to the point where they couldn't sleep through the night, according to a release by the Lancaster County district attorney's office. Pennsylvania state police received an allegation of sexual abuse and spoke with the first victim to come forward in September 20…
Grandfather Killed In PA Crash: State Police Grandfather Killed In PA Crash: State Police
Grandfather Killed In PA Crash: State Police An 83-year-old man died at following a crash at an intersection in Colerain Township on Friday, Sept. 9, authorities say.  Joseph Fisher, of Oxford, was driving his 2010 Chrysler Town & Country minivan when he "failed to yield" while attempting to make a left turn onto Kirkwood Pike from Noble Road at 8:49 a.m., Pennsylvania state police say.  He slammed into a 2005 Kenworth Northwest, driven by a man from Gap who suffered minor injuries, according to the police release.  Fisher was taken to Lancaster General Health in critical condition where he died from his injuries at 10:43 a.m., a…
PA Pimp Used Hotels To Sex Traffick 18-Year-Old Trying To Model, Authorities Say PA Pimp Used Hotels To Sex Traffick 18-Year-Old Trying To Model, Authorities Say
PA Pimp Used Hotels To Sex Traffick 18-Year-Old Trying To Model, Authorities Say An 18-year-old girl who wanted to become a model was lured into prostitution by a man who claimed to be her boyfriend. Lancaster County detectives first learned about this girl after seeing an advertisement online “listing a female who was performing sex acts for money in Lancaster,” according to a release by the district attorney’s office. The detectives texted the number in the ad and agreed to pay $260 to spend an hour with the female at a hotel in Lancaster City on Mar. 1, 2022, the release details. The undercover detective met the girl, gave her the money, and discussed what sex ac…
'Straight Out Of Horror Film': Hatchet-Bearing PA Man Tracked Victim In Cornfield: DA 'Straight Out Of Horror Film': Hatchet-Bearing PA Man Tracked Victim In Cornfield: DA
'Straight Out Of Horror Film': Hatchet-Bearing PA Man Tracked Victim In Cornfield: DA A Pennsylvania man shot, hunted down and hatch chopped a man in such a brutal way that even the district attorney described it as something out of a horror film. Robert Sheets, 34, of Quarryville, shot a man in the chest, leaving him to die, only to return the next day to hunt him down with a hatchet when he realized his victim was still alive, according to a release by the Lancaster County district attorney's office. “It was 41 hours from the time the defendant picked up the victim until the time he crawled out of the cornfield and found help,” Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Ponessa …
PA Funeral Director Who Abused Corpses Charged For Abusing Animals: DA PA Funeral Director Who Abused Corpses Charged For Abusing Animals: DA
PA Funeral Director Who Abused Corpses Charged For Abusing Animals: DA A former funeral director, who pleaded guilty to abusing corpses and tampering with public documents, is facing new charges for animal abuse, according to a release by the Lancaster County district attorney's office. Andrew T. Scheid, 50, of Millersville, is accused of intentionally and knowingly causing the death of a bovine calf by starvation and dehydration at his residence in the 300 block of Old Blue Rock Road sometime between Nov. 1 and 4,. according to the release.  Scheid was charged with one count of aggravated cruelty to animals and three counts of neglect of animals on Wedne…
LanCo. Man Found Guilty Of Attempted Manslaughter For Shooting Over Snapchat Post, DA Says LanCo. Man Found Guilty Of Attempted Manslaughter For Shooting Over Snapchat Post, DA Says
LanCo. Man Found Guilty Of Attempted Manslaughter For Shooting Over Snapchat Post, DA Says An Ephrata Township man has been convicted of five counts of attempted voluntary manslaughter among other charges in connection with a shooting in July 2020, according to a statement released by the Lancaster County District Attorney's office. Mark Ivie Jr., 21, shot at a group of men with an AR-15 rifle after an altercation at the Ivie’s Ephrata home on Blackberry Lane that began over a Snapchat argument, according to the release. During the trial the jury heard testimony that a former coworker of Ivie Jr. posted a music video on Snapchat, which Ivie Jr. criticized, starting an argument on…
21-Year-Old Motorcyclist Killed In Route 72 Crash, Report Says 21-Year-Old Motorcyclist Killed In Route 72 Crash, Report Says
21-Year-Old Motorcyclist Killed In Route 72 Crash, Report Says A 21-year-old man killed in a three vehicle crash along Route 72 on Monday has been identified as a Columbia man, authorities said.Konnor Lowman was on a motorcycle when he collided with another vehicles on Route 72 at Quarry Road Monday afternoon in East Hempfield, the Lancaster County Coroner's Officer told WGAL News 8. The vehicles struck a Warwick Township public works vehicle stopped at a stop sign on impact, police said. Route 72 was closed for three and a half hours as police investigated, as Daily Voice previously reported. Lowman enjoyed snowboarding and was an avid moto…