Mechanicsburg, PA: Nicole Berman, attorney with MidPenn Legal Services in Chambersburg, killed Tuesday; her fiance Gary Alan Cartwright reportedly confesses to strangling her

Fiance arrested for strangling Nicole Berman

By Rachel Bryson
The Record Herald
Posted Dec 31, 2010 @ 08:21 AM



Mechanicsburg —
A young attorney who worked in Chambersburg was found dead in her home Wednesday afternoon and her fiance reportedly admitted strangling her the day before.

Nicole Berman, 27, a staff attorney at MidPenn Legal Services, was found dead in the townhouse she shared with her fiance, Gary Alan Cartwright, 27, at 740 Colonial Court.

Cartwright strangled Berman during an argument around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, but waited until noon Wednesday to call 911 and report her death, according to Sliver Spring Township police.

Cartwright confessed to killing Berman, Richard Hammon, superintendent of the Silver Spring Police Department, said Thursday afternoon.

“You guys can go ahead and take me in ... I killed her ... I strangled her,” Cartwright said, according to charging documents.

Cartwright is charged with criminal homicide and is being held without bail in Cumberland County Prison. His preliminary hearing is schedule for Friday, Jan. 7.

Deep loss

Friends and colleagues of Berman are struggling to come to terms with their sudden loss.

“We are very saddened,” said Carrie Bowmaster, manager of MidPenn Legal Services in Chambersburg. “She was a wonderful young attorney.”
Berman wanted to serve the public, Bowmaster said. While she attended Dickinson Law School Berman, was a certified legal intern with the Family Law Clinic and was a volunteer in the New Jersey Attorney General’s office prior to joining the firm in May of this year.

MidPenn Legal Services, which operates in 18 counties, is a non-profit, public interest law firm serving low-income people and survivors of domestic violence.

“Public interest was were she wanted to be,” Bowmaster said. “She wanted to help people.”

Rhodia Thomas, executive director of MidPenn Legal Services, released the following statement:

“Nicole joined us in May of 2010 as a staff attorney in our Chambersburg office. She was one of the nicest and brightest attorneys that we have ever hired. She was very passionate about the work and she was born to do this job. She had a lot of compassion and understanding for the people we worked with and we are very shocked and saddened by this loss. It is not a phone call that an employer wants to wake up to and get. We offer condolences to the family.”

Berman was certified to practice law in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.