UPDATE:
Opening statements are expected to begin Tuesday in the trial of a retired Pennsylvania pastor charged with killing his second wife.
Jury selection started Monday for Arthur Schirmer.
He has been charged with killing Betty Jean Schirmer in 2008 in Monroe County and staged a car accident to cover up her death.
Schirmer has also been charged with killing his first wife, Jewel, in Lebanon County in 1999.
___________________________________________
Jury selection is slated to begin today in one of the trials against a former Lebanon County pastor accused of killing both of his wives.
Arthur Schirmer, 64, was a pastor at Bethany United Methodist Church in Jackson Township.
This trial is for the 2008 death of his second wife Betty Jean Schirmer.
Officials say Schirmer killed her, and staged a car accident in Monroe County to cover it up.
Jury selection is expected to take a day, with opening statements set for tomorrow at the courthouse in Stroudsburg.
After Schirmer was charged in that case, officials reopened the investigation into the 1999 death of his first wife Jewel.
He had told police she fell down the stairs at their home, but they reclassified Jewel's death as a homicide.
He'll be tried in Lebanon County for that case, a trial date hasn't been set.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The former pastor accused of killing his wife 13 years ago will stand trial in Lebanon County Court.
Following an hour-long preliminary hearing Tuesday morning, the defendant was returned to Monroe County where he is awaiting trial in the death of his second wife.
This case can get confusing. Arthur Schirmer was first arrested for killing his second wife, Betty in a staged car crash in Monroe County in summer 2008.
His hearing Tuesday centered on the 1999 death of his first wife, Jewel, at their home in North Lebanon Township.
When Jewel Schirmer died it was from a fall down the steps of their home in the 900 block of Skyline Drive. She died a day later from traumatic brain injuries.
The manner of death was undetermined. At the time, her husband had been pastor at Bethany United Methodist Church in Lebanon for 20 years.
But it was the death of his second wife nine years later that brought together law enforcement from Monroe and Lebanon Counties and a more in-depth investigation.
A Lebanon County grand jury recommended the criminal charges.
In testimony Tuesday, there was reference to having an affair on the part of the pastor. The victim's brother said she would have never considered a divorce. The brother also said it appeared an extra effort was made to clean up blood on the floor and walls in the home's basement and that he became suspicious of Schirmer's actions just days after his sister died.
Lebanon County District Attorney David Arnold said forensic testing indicated that her most serious injuries were unlikely to have occurred in a fall down the steps. He also presented evidence that showed his second wife Betty's injuries were inconsistent with a slow-speed vehicle crash.
“We expected the charges to be bound over to court, which of course they were," commented Lebanon County District Attorney David Arnold. "Anytime there's a death we don't forget about them. That's something that's never formally closed out. If info becomes available we take another look at it, and that's what happened here."
Schirmer is scheduled to go to trial next month in Monroe County for the death of his second wife. March is the soonest that testimony will begin on the murder charge in Lebanon County.
Opening statements are expected to begin Tuesday in the trial of a retired Pennsylvania pastor charged with killing his second wife.
Jury selection started Monday for Arthur Schirmer.
He has been charged with killing Betty Jean Schirmer in 2008 in Monroe County and staged a car accident to cover up her death.
Schirmer has also been charged with killing his first wife, Jewel, in Lebanon County in 1999.
___________________________________________
Jury selection is slated to begin today in one of the trials against a former Lebanon County pastor accused of killing both of his wives.
Arthur Schirmer, 64, was a pastor at Bethany United Methodist Church in Jackson Township.
This trial is for the 2008 death of his second wife Betty Jean Schirmer.
Officials say Schirmer killed her, and staged a car accident in Monroe County to cover it up.
Jury selection is expected to take a day, with opening statements set for tomorrow at the courthouse in Stroudsburg.
After Schirmer was charged in that case, officials reopened the investigation into the 1999 death of his first wife Jewel.
He had told police she fell down the stairs at their home, but they reclassified Jewel's death as a homicide.
He'll be tried in Lebanon County for that case, a trial date hasn't been set.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The former pastor accused of killing his wife 13 years ago will stand trial in Lebanon County Court.
Following an hour-long preliminary hearing Tuesday morning, the defendant was returned to Monroe County where he is awaiting trial in the death of his second wife.
This case can get confusing. Arthur Schirmer was first arrested for killing his second wife, Betty in a staged car crash in Monroe County in summer 2008.
His hearing Tuesday centered on the 1999 death of his first wife, Jewel, at their home in North Lebanon Township.
When Jewel Schirmer died it was from a fall down the steps of their home in the 900 block of Skyline Drive. She died a day later from traumatic brain injuries.
The manner of death was undetermined. At the time, her husband had been pastor at Bethany United Methodist Church in Lebanon for 20 years.
But it was the death of his second wife nine years later that brought together law enforcement from Monroe and Lebanon Counties and a more in-depth investigation.
A Lebanon County grand jury recommended the criminal charges.
In testimony Tuesday, there was reference to having an affair on the part of the pastor. The victim's brother said she would have never considered a divorce. The brother also said it appeared an extra effort was made to clean up blood on the floor and walls in the home's basement and that he became suspicious of Schirmer's actions just days after his sister died.
Lebanon County District Attorney David Arnold said forensic testing indicated that her most serious injuries were unlikely to have occurred in a fall down the steps. He also presented evidence that showed his second wife Betty's injuries were inconsistent with a slow-speed vehicle crash.
“We expected the charges to be bound over to court, which of course they were," commented Lebanon County District Attorney David Arnold. "Anytime there's a death we don't forget about them. That's something that's never formally closed out. If info becomes available we take another look at it, and that's what happened here."
Schirmer is scheduled to go to trial next month in Monroe County for the death of his second wife. March is the soonest that testimony will begin on the murder charge in Lebanon County.