Lebanon, PA: Pastor held in wife's death faces new probe

The arrest of the former Lebanon minister in his second wife's slaying leads police to reopen the investigation into his first wife's death. %%by%%BY MATTHEW KEMENY mkemeny@patriot-news.com%%endby%%
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
BY MATTHEW KEMENY mkemeny@patriot-news.com
Although it was more than a decade ago, Michele Ambrosia still remembers the shock and sadness that filled Our Lady of The Valley School in Lebanon after the unexpected death of the school's music teacher, Jewel Schirmer, in 1999.

It was reported then that Schirmer, 50, died of a brain injury when she fell down a flight of stairs in her North Lebanon Twp. home.

Now, investigators are reopening the case after Schirmer's husband, former pastor Arthur B. Schirmer, was charged Monday in the 2008 death of his second wife.

John Leahy, Lebanon County's chief of detectives, said he expects the investigation into Jewel Schirmer's death to be long and tedious. He declined to discuss specifics, but said the case was reopened due to the similarities in the two deaths -- both were the result of blunt-force head trauma.

"It was difficult for everyone," recalled Ambrosia, now principal at Lebanon Catholic High School. "It was a shock. You're used to seeing someone everyday."

Schirmer, 62, formerly the pastor at Bethany United Methodist Church in Lebanon and more recently at Reeders United Methodist in Swiftwater, Monroe County, was accused of trying to cover up the death of his second wife, Betty Jean Schirmer, 56, by making it appear she died in a car crash in July 2008 in Pocono Twp., according to court documents.

Schirmer told investigators he was driving his wife to the hospital for jaw pain when he swerved to avoid a deer, traveled across the road and his car slammed into a guardrail at 40 to 45 mph, according to court papers. He told police the impact caused his wife's head to hit the windshield and rearview mirror, according to court papers.

However, when Zoltan Rado, safety program director of the Crash, Safety and Research Center at Penn State University, examined the crash, he estimated Schirmer's PT Cruiser was traveling 15 mph when it hit the guardrail. Rado concluded that Betty Jean Schirmer's injuries were inconsistent with the crash, according to court papers.

A state police trooper with the forensics unit also determined Betty Jean Schirmer was bleeding before the crash, and her blood was found on the garage floor where the couple lived, according to court papers.

Schirmer's attorney, Brandon Reish, said his client's arrest did not come as a surprise, as it was being investigated for more than a year. Reish said they plan to fight the charges.

"They're largely basing their case on a study and what seems to be an expert on the crash," Reish, of Stroudsburg, said. "They are alleging he was driving slow and, simply, I don't know that any of their assumptions are necessarily correct."

"I think they're just trying to paint a picture that makes it look like he's a criminal mastermind," Reish added. "He's just a gentleman who's had tragic circumstances."

Monroe County police decided to reopen the crash investigation after a suicide at Reeders United Methodist Church in October 2008, according to court papers.

Joseph Musante killed himself in Schirmer's office at the church, and investigators later discovered Schirmer was having an affair with Musante's wife, Cynthia, according to court papers.

After Musante's suicide, there were several complaints to Pocono Twp. police about the deaths of Schirmer's wives, prompting the investigation, police said.

A call to Cynthia Musante's home phone came back as not in service.

Schirmer's was arraigned Monday in Tannersville on charges of criminal homicide and evidence tampering. He did not enter a plea and was denied bail, as is common in homicide cases. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sept. 28.

Schirmer resigned from Reeders a few weeks after the suicide after being there for about seven years. In a statement, the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church said church leaders continue to mourn the death of Betty Jean Schirmer.

No one at Bethany UMC could be reached for comment.

Jewel Schirmer's mother, Jean Shertzer, said she was shocked and saddened by the recent developments in her daughter's case, and she declined comment. Staff writer Chris Courogen and The Associated Press contributed to this story.