Bedford, PA: Cambria lawyer to play role in Bedford County murder trial

BEDFORD — A Cambria County attorney has been named to the defense team representing a man who police say shot and killed his estranged wife outside a Bedford County restaurant.

David Beyer of Ebensburg will represent John Lewis Gerholt during the death penalty phase of his trial if he is convicted of first-degree murder.

Beyer’s appointment was revealed Tuesday during a pretrial hearing to address a number of issues prior to Gerholt’s capital murder trial, which is set for early December.

Potential jurors will be brought in Nov. 30, and the trial will start as soon as a panel is seated, Bedford County Judge Daniel Howsare said.

Gerholt, 39, of Mount Union, Huntingdon County, is accused of gunning down Karen Gerholt, 24, of Hopewell.

The killing occurred Nov. 9, 2008, as Karen Gerholt, who was employed at the McDonald’s in Snake Spring Township, stepped outside to take a break.

Beyer, who launched an unsuccessful primary bid for Cambria County judge in 2009, is involved in another high-profile homicide trial in Blair County.

He is the death penalty phase attorney who will represent Johns-town native Nicholas Adam Horner, an Iraq War veteran charged in the shooting deaths of a former Northern Cambria man and a Hollidaysburg teen in April 2009.

Beyer will focus on Gerholt’s life and any experiences or circumstances that may have contributed to his actions.

Court-appointed defense attorney Thomas Dickey of Altoona will focus on Gerholt’s guilt or innocence during the testimony phase.

Dickey argued Tuesday that the aggravating circumstances cited by Bedford County District Attorney William Higgins as a reason for seeking the death penalty don’t meet the standard for capital murder.

Two weeks prior to Karen Gerholt’s killing, a Bedford County judge had issued a protection from abuse order stating that John Gerholt was to have no contact with his wife. Dickey indicated his client was not aware of the circumstances and implications of the PFA order.

“We do not believe it rises to the necessary level of the law,” Dickey said. “We do not believe that would be sufficient enough to use as an aggravating circumstance.”

Higgins said that a week before the killing, John Gerholt was in court admitting he had violated the order.

The PFA issue is one of the elements Higgins is using as an aggravating circumstance in seeking the death penalty if the jury convicts Gerholt of first-degree murder.

The other element is the site of the shooting – the parking lot of a busy McDonald’s located in front of a Walmart store and a strip plaza anchored by a Weis Market grocery.

Beyer contends the aggravating circumstances fail to reach the necessary level for the death penalty.

“We also question the first-degree murder charge because clearly (Gerholt) did not go with the intent of killing her,” Beyer said from his office in Ebensburg.

While Dickey requested that a jury be brought in from another county because of publicity surrounding the case, he agreed to wait until attempts are made to seat a jury locally.

With the possibility of a local jury hearing the case, Higgins is asking to be given access to the names and addresses of witnesses who will be called by the defense.

State law mandates that the prosecution provide a witness list to the defense, but the defense is not bound to reciprocate unless so ordered by the trial judge.

Along with a number of other issues, Dickey is asking the judge to give Gerholt a separate trial on charges that he forged documents to gain access to the cemetery plot next to his dead wife.

“This case has no relevance to the homicide,” Dickey said.

The prosecution disagrees.

“It’s all part of the larger picture and it goes to (Gerholt’s) state of mind and intent,” Higgins said.