A Lancaster County man will face the death penalty for allegedly killing a mom and her daughter in their Leola home in June. We want to warn some details of this case are gruesome and not suitable for children.
Gerlach committed the murders while he was living in the house with the victims.
The 23-year-old is accused of killing Mona Hess and her daughter, Makenzie. Mona was beaten with a hammer and Makenzie was strangled.
We have learned that Gerlach performed sexual acts on the bodies after they were dead. So now in addition to criminal homicide, Gerlach faces charges of abuse of a corpse.
District Attorney Craig Stedman says that Gerlach has admitted to killing both women and sexually abusing their bodies afterwards.
"This is extremely rare, this type of a charge on top of a murder,” stated Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman. “It doesn't happen very often. I don't even like talking about it and I'm sure no one likes listening about it. So you can imagine how the surviving family members feel about this."
Stedman went on to say this is only the second case he has ever handled where someone was accused of sexually abusing a corpse.
Gerlach committed the murders while he was living in the house with the victims.
The 23-year-old is accused of killing Mona Hess and her daughter, Makenzie. Mona was beaten with a hammer and Makenzie was strangled.
We have learned that Gerlach performed sexual acts on the bodies after they were dead. So now in addition to criminal homicide, Gerlach faces charges of abuse of a corpse.
District Attorney Craig Stedman says that Gerlach has admitted to killing both women and sexually abusing their bodies afterwards.
"This is extremely rare, this type of a charge on top of a murder,” stated Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman. “It doesn't happen very often. I don't even like talking about it and I'm sure no one likes listening about it. So you can imagine how the surviving family members feel about this."
Stedman went on to say this is only the second case he has ever handled where someone was accused of sexually abusing a corpse.