A Harrowing Murder in Amish Country

Edward Gingerich was said to be a bit of a rebel to the Amish lifestyle into which he was born and raised. When he was to be wed to his future wife, Katie, there were some concerns within the community. Gingerich was a bit of a loner, known to spend an exorbitant amount of time in the woodshop using the limited machinery allowed in the Amish woodworking and interact more freely with the non-Amish people that surrounded the community than he did his own. However, it was believed that a woman such as Katie would be a good influence on him and so they were married on the rainy winter’s day of December 2, 1986.

The change in Gingerich’s behavior after marriage was immediate and apparent. He quickly lost interest in his new wife and the son she gave birth to during their first year of marriage. He hardly ate and lost a considerable amount of weight. Frequently, he complained of dizzy spells, often coming home in the afternoon and disappearing into the bedroom where he would sleep for hours.

Concerned for her husband’s health, Katie pondered what sort of care might help him, but the elders in their community felt it was more a case of faking illness to get out of work. They saw him as just being lazy. Still, Katie insisted upon taking him to a nearby physician by the name of Terrell used by many in the community.

Doc Terrell saw patients at what appeared to be just his home with a shingle hung out by a separate entrance. He diagnosed Gingerich by feeding a slip of paper on which the patient had written requested personal information through a device about the size of a fax machine from that period. This was supposed to analyze Gingerich’s handwriting and provide a diagnosis and treatment for him.

As the paper went through the machine, it produced a series of numbers and codes which Doc Terrell interpreted to mean that Gingerich needed a “toe pulling” and a foot rub. He performed these remedies on the patient and sent Gingerich home with a jar of blackstrap molasses intended to purify his blood. This “cure” only cost $25.

As the months passed and no improvement was seen, Katie gave up hope for a quick cure. She continued to take her husband to Doc Terrell for several months with no improvement. Gingerich only seemed to get worse.

On March 21, 1989, Katie gave birth to a second son. Gingerich was uninterested in his new son and spent much of his time in the machine shop or bed. Katie’s family had a low opinion of her husband but kept it to themselves. Still, her uncle, Bishop Shetler, considered something was horribly wrong with Gingerich and decided to keep a close eye on him.

Things once again took a turn for the worse when a fire broke out on December 3, 1989. The Gingerich’s sawmill had caught fire and was far too engulfed in flames to be saved. It burned to the ground. The fire was determined accidental, caused by a fire left burning in a wood stove, but now Gingerich had lost the safe haven where he spent hours away from this wife and family.

Determined to get back to the woodwork he loved, Gingerich began plans for a new sawmill to be built. During this time, Katie also found out she was once again pregnant. Gingerich was not at all pleased by the idea of a third child. Still, on March 13, 1990, four days before her 26th birthday, Katie gave birth to their first daughter. Gingerich had no interest in his new daughter, her siblings, or her mother.

Instead, Gingerich poured himself into getting the new mill constructed. The building was started in April 1990 and erected in a short amount of time. It measured a sizeable 150 feet long and 25 feet wide. Gingerich was proud of how it turned out, both the Amish and non-Amish alike were impressed by his ability to automate it within Amish guidelines in the most modern fashion. With the sawmill back in order, Gingerich turned it over to a young Amish man named Noah Stutzman to free himself up to dedicate his time to the machine shop.

The relationship between Gingerich and his wife continued to deteriorate. He refused to have sex with Katie for fear she might get pregnant. Then, he began staying out late and completely ignoring his family. When he did talk to his wife, their discussions were filled with talk of modernization or leaving their Amish faith. Katie feared speaking of such things to her father out of fear that she, her husband, and their children would be excommunicated from the Amish community.

In September 1991, Gingerich’s father began building a new home for his son’s family next to the sawmill. Gingerich was disinterested in the work and left his father and sawmill crew to build the two-story, four-bedroom home. It angered Katie’s father that his son-in-law put no effort into building his own family’s home. It was unheard of for an able-bodied Amish man not to participate in the construction of his own home. Still, the house was completed in November and the family moved in immediately.

Gingerich’s health continued to grow worse in the months to come. He rarely ate anything and constantly complained of being dizzy, itchy, having earaches, and experiencing back pain. Katie sent away for some herbs she hoped would help him, perhaps even cure him, but he refused to take them. He believed she was trying to poison him.

On the morning of March 17, 1992, Gingerich spent the entire morning at the machine shop. It was Katie’s 28th birthday, but that wouldn’t have been something he cared about anyway. Instead, he busied himself degreasing a diesel engine with a solvent called Gunk. The warning labels on the container indicated that the solvent is only to be used in well-ventilated areas and with proper dilution. Instead, Gingerich used it full strength in the closed-up machine shop. He was there until four in the afternoon, sealed up with the fumes from the solvent.

He was in an obviously weakened state when he finally stumbled out of the shop and returned home. He barely spoke to Katie as he made his way into their house and went straight to the bedroom, where he collapsed across the bed. He said that his brain felt like it was on fire and his hands were swollen and stiff.

The next morning, he awoke feeling a bit groggy and with a headache. Nonetheless, he drank a cup of coffee and returned to the machine shop, which had still not been aired out, and reeked up fumes from the Gunk. Rather than opening it up to get some fresh air into it, he went right back to work on the engine and stayed there for more than seven hours before once again stumbling home with a headache. He said his limbs felt stiff — like they weren’t getting any circulation.

That night at dinner, the family meal was interrupted by a knock at the door. David Lindsey had come to purchase a saw blade Gingerich had agreed to sell him. Lindsey was from outside the Amish community and a Christian. He and Gingerich had struck up an unlikely friendship and often discussed religion with one another. Lindsey seemed determined to bring Gingerich over to his Christian faith.

The two men went to load the blade onto Lindsey’s truck. Lindsey was in a bit of a hurry to get to his Wednesday church gathering but agreed to look at some pigs Gingerich told him he had recently purchased. Then, Gingerich told him about the motor he’d been repairing and asked him to take a quick look at it, as well.

Lindsey was immediately struck by the strong smell inside the machine shop and asked Gingerich about it. Gingerich told him that he had been using Gunk to clean the engine and Lindsey cautioned him against failing to properly ventilate. Soon, their discussion turned to religion again and Lindsey forgot all about his prayer meeting in favor of evangelizing to Gingerich. By the time the two men left the building, they were both dizzy and physically ill. Still, Lindsey felt he’d made a great deal of progress with Gingerich and saw his eventual conversion to Christianity as a certainty.

Gingerich returned home where Katie had already put the children down for the night but was still awake herself. She noted that he looked odd and asked what was wrong. Gingerich told her that he was dizzy and his head hurt as he made his way to the bedroom and went to sleep.

The following morning at dawn, Katie found herself being shaken awake by Gingerich. He was speaking to himself in an odd voice. She asked him what he was doing and he told her that he had a vision from God. Katie asked what he meant and he told her that he had tried to kill the older leader but the man wouldn’t die, that he couldn’t conquer him. Katie had no idea what he was talking about and asked what leader he meant. He told her:

“Bishop Shetler! I've got to kill the older leader to make room for the new religion. I couldn't do it because he wouldn't die! No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't kill him … the Devil wants my soul. He’s fighting Jesus for my soul.”

Gingerich continued to rant and ramble all morning. Katie arranged yet another visit to Doc Terrell. Once again, Gingerich wrote down his personal information and symptoms on a piece of paper and it was fed into the machine Doc Terrell used to make his diagnoses. He listed his symptoms as no appetite, forgetfulness, and inability to sleep. This resulted in Doc Terrell treating him with a shoulder rub, right-foot adjustment, and giving him another jar of blackstrap molasses to purify his blood.

As one could expect, there was no improvement in Gingerich’s condition. What’s more, he gave the entire community quite a shock the following evening when a church group gathered at Katie’s parents’ house. Gingerich announced to everyone present that he had been speaking with a spiritual advisor from outside the Amish community and his eyes had been opened to God and Jesus Christ. He told them that he must leave the Amish church in order to be saved, that it was the only way. He referenced passages Lindsey had shared with him from the Book of John that indicated faith alone was all he needed. Katie was horrified.

Bishop Shetler told Gingerich that the people he had been speaking to were the Devil’s soldiers and asked if he really intended to join them.

Gingerich was annoyed and asked why his own people were against his salvation.

Katie told him that no one was against him, but he ignored her, once again launching a discussion about the dream he’d told her of previously despite her begging him not to discuss that. She insisted to those present and him that it was just a dream but he proclaimed that it was a vision — a prophecy.

Bishop Shetler had heard all he wanted. He grabbed his coat and hat and walked out the door, followed closely by everyone else but Katie and Gingerich. Katie stood crying as she saw her community collapsing around her.

On March 23, 1992, Gingerich refused to get out of bed. He lay there spitting upward and watching it hang from the ceiling. Katie asked him to stop and get out of bed, but he refused, instead fascinated by his phlegm and asking her what it said. She was distraught by his behavior and retrieved Bishop Shetler for help with him. When the Shetler arrived, Gingerich was still in the bed, spitting at the ceiling and talking to himself. Shetler asked what he was doing and Gingerich told him that he believed his heart was coming loose from his body. He said he could feel it.

Bishop Shetler send word to the elders in the community and Gingerich’s family that he had been taken by the Devil and that they needed to come over and pray for him at once. As they entered the bedroom, Gingerich began flailing about and had to be tied down. His mother suggested that he be taken to the doctor, but the bishop explained that Gingerich was not sick. He insisted the man had been taken by the Devil and only prayer could help him.

Those gathered at the house formed a prayer circle around the bed to pray for God to drive Satan from Gingerich. After a while, Gingerich settled down and was helped to his feet to move into the front room where he was placed on a cot and fell asleep. Bishop Shetler was certain that their prayers had worked to drive out Satan and free Gingerich’s soul. Their assurances were short-lived as Gingerich once again awoke and began scrambling around the room on all fours.

It was once again suggested that perhaps Gingerich should be seen by a doctor and so Dr. Craig Caldwell was called from a non-Amish neighbor’s house and brought to the home. When Dr. Caldwell arrived, he asked Gingerich how he was doing and Gingerich asked him to check and see if his heart was still present, telling him that it had jumped to the right side.

As Dr. Caldwell examined him, Gingerich continued to ramble about the Bishop and Jesus Christ. In an effort to help, Katie handed the doctor the jar of blackstrap molasses given to them by Dr. Caldwell and asked if it might help. Dr. Caldwell examined the jar’s label and handed it back to her, telling her that it would not. Instead, he prescribed tranquilizers and left, telling Katie to call him if Gingerich didn’t begin to feel better. After he departed, Gingerich climbed back into bed and cried himself to sleep.

The following morning began just as the day before, with Gingerich lying in bed, spitting at the ceiling and talking to himself. Katie concluded that she and the community could not help him on their own and so she sent his brother over to a non-Amish neighbor’s house to call 911 for assistance. Katie waited outside on the steps for the ambulance to arrive. The three volunteers approached with a medical bag and a transport cot. Katie told them that her husband had experienced a nervous breakdown and warned them to be careful because his behavior was erratic.

Gingerich began to scream immediately as the men approached, telling them not to kill him and attempting to run out the door. He was quickly overcome by his brothers and restrained. As he was brought out the front door, he cast a mocking look at Katie, who then surprised everyone present by punching him in the face hard enough to knock him off his feet. When he regained his footing, it took seven men to restrain him and strap him to the ambulance cot. Despite the altercation, the paramedics told Katie she could meet them at the hospital in Erie. A non-Amish neighbor agreed to transport the family there.

Meanwhile, the paramedics had alerted the hospital about the situation and were met by hospital security at the emergency room entrance. By this time, however, Gingerich seemed calm and cooperative. The doctor assigned to treat him was appalled by the restraints he was in and told them to remove them and let the patient walk in on his own, which they did.

Gingerich was being led into an exam room when Katie and his family arrived. The doctor let Katie into the examination room and began asking her questions about his condition. Katie explained what had been happening with her husband, but it didn’t mesh with what the doctor was seeing now. Gingerich appeared to him to be perfectly calm with all his faculties intact. He even questioned whether Gingerich might have just been teasing but she assured him that this was not the case.

The doctor chastised Katie, suggesting that perhaps she was the one overreacting. He cautioned her about what a huge decision putting a man in a mental ward and grew annoyed, telling her he had other patients and would be back to perform a more thorough examination once he’d seen to them. After he was gone, Gingerich quietly confronted Katie, asking her if she was trying to kill him. He accused her and his brother of trying to get rid of him so they could be together. Katie left the room to retrieve the doctor so he could see Gingerich’s behavior. When she returned with the doctor, they found Gingerich lying on his back, spitting at the ceiling and talking to himself.

Finally, the doctor saw some of the problem behavior and agreed to take Gingerich down to the mental ward for further evaluation. He was placed in a white, windowless room with a plastic-covered mattress and immediately began to try to fight his way out of it. It took four men to hold him down so that he could be given a tranquilizer to calm him. Gingerich went limp as the medication took hold and was closed into the room.

On March 25, 1992, a heavily medicated Gingerich was moved to a private room. Due to the cocktail of anti-psychotic and anti-depressants, he was on, he was no longer considered a threat to anyone. When visited by Katie and his family that afternoon, he seemed more like his old self, only a bit drowsy. Katie began to believe he might finally be cured.

The following day, David Lowrey visited with Gingerich. He believed that the Gunk fumes were to blame for his friend’s previous mental state and began filling his head with more religious propaganda and thoughts on the evil Bishop. Despite this interference with his mental well-being, Gingerich was released from the hospital on April 3 with the medication he needed and scheduled for outpatient sessions with a local psychiatrist. For the first time, his family and community felt he was on the path to wellness.

For a few weeks, it certainly seemed that way. Gingerich took his meds and attended his outpatient sessions. When he complained about the medication he was on zapping his energy and giving him mouth lesions, his psychiatrist worked with him to change the combination he was on, but the change didn’t seem to be any better and Gingerich grew tired of the discomfort. Katie was also beginning to have her doubts about his treatment and considered taking him back to Doc Terrell.

By April 28, Gingerich decided to end his treatment completely. He stopped taking his medication and didn’t show up for his appointment with his psychiatrist. Despite warnings that he could relapse, Katie supported his decision. Within days, he had already sunk into a deep depression and signs of his previous psychosis were returning. Katie found him pulling out his hair and screaming that it was on fire several times. The months ahead only showed further cracks in his psyche. He would claim to hear Satan’s voice in his head telling him to kill Katie to save himself. He scratched at his dry skin until it bled.

In May, Gingerich told Katie he intended to shoot himself to end the torment. Katie responded to the possibility that he might go through with it by gathering up all of his hunting rifles and hiding them. That night, Gingerich went on a rampage. He smashed his fist through a window and climbed out onto the porch roof, threatening to jump and kill himself despite only being ten feet off the ground. When he saw Katie’s parents approaching the house, he jumped off the roof and ran down the road until he passed out. His father and brother had also been approaching and retrieved his limp body, putting him into their buggy and taking him back home.

Katie took him back to Doc Terrell, who gave him another joint manipulation and more blackstrap molasses.

On May 5, 1992, Gingerich awoke in a manic state, smashing out yet another window and running around the house chanting religious verses to himself. Katie’s mother arrived late in the morning and beseeched her daughter to get him some real help. Katie was resistant to sending him back to the psych ward, but she gave in to her mother’s suggestion that she take him to another hospital, Jones Memorial Health Center in Jamestown, New York.

The family knew it wouldn’t be easy to get him back to a hospital so they waited until he fell asleep and then tied his arms and legs together. Gingerich awoke as they were tightening his bindings and began screaming as they dragged him out to a non-Amish neighbor’s van to transport him to the hospital. Luckily, he passed out again shortly after they started out on the hour and a half drive to the hospital but he was awake again once they arrived. Oddly, he said nothing as they fetched two attendants to come out and take him inside. The attendants were upset about taking in a hogtied man and asked his brothers to untie him and help him inside, which they did.

Inside, Gingerich initially walked peacefully toward the exam room, but after a few moments, he dropped down to the floor and began running around on all fours. He knocked over IV stands, chairs, tables, trays with utensils, and such until the attendants were able to subdue him and get him on a table, where he once again fell asleep. Thinking he was calm, they left him there but he woke up again a half-hour later and began ripping medical appliances and cabinets off the walls. By the time staff got back to him, the room was covered with shattered glass, loose wires, and medical supplies.

Gingerich was held down on the table and given an antipsychotic drug called Mellaril to calm him. Once he was more docile, the doctor questioned him about his condition. Gingerich told him that he had a bad case of liver cancer and had seen a light so bright that he’d thought he was on his way to Hell. He asked if the doctor knew his brother and the doctor told him that he did not. Gingerich responded with “When my brother blew into Katie’s cunt, I saw an angel fly out of her mouth.”

The doctor was stunned at such comments from an Amish patient and gave him another injection — this time a tranquilizer called Ativan — before sending him to the psych ward where he was placed in a padded room so he’d not be a danger to himself or others. The family was not allowed to see him for his first week in the hospital as he was given a cocktail of Lithium, Cogentin, and Mellaril. During this time, he also attended both private and group therapy sessions. When he was finally allowed to see his family eight days later, he seemed happy for the first time in a long time. Still, they were surprised to learn he was going to be released in two more weeks.

On May 15, 1992, Gingerich walked out of the hospital with new prescriptions and outpatient appointments to attend. Four days later, he stopped taking his medications again and Katie supported his decision. For a while, he seemed to be mostly okay. In June 1992, his old friend David Lindsey stopped by for a visit and preached to him about redemption, once again urging him to free himself of the Bishop and turn to Jesus for his salvation. Still, Gingerich managed to get through the summer with only a hint of depression and Katie dragging him to see Doc Terrell many times.

As the cold weather approached, the Gingerich family found themselves increasingly closed up inside together. A notable slip in Gingerich’s health was evident and he refused to take the blackstrap molasses provided by Doc Terrell, which upset Katie. Gingerich’s father grew increasingly concerned about his son’s health and pleaded with Katie to give more modern medicine another chance, but she would hear nothing of it.

Instead, Gingerich’s father spoke directly to his son about his health issues. On March 15, 1993, he agreed to see another modern doctor if his father promised not to let him be put back in the hospital again. His father discussed the situation with his other sons that night and Danny Gingerich brought up the name of Jacob Troyer, an Amish man rumored to be a special healer. Though his father was reluctant, he agreed to give it a try and took his son to see the man.

The following day, March 17, 1993 — Katie’s 29th birthday — a non-Amish driver arrived at the Gingerich house to take them to the Smicksburgh settlement over 100 miles away. Gingerich was having a particularly bad day and lay back in the seat groaning while they traveled.

Upon arrival at the Troyer’s house, Gingerich dropped to his knees and began crawling around on the floor, commenting on how nice the flooring was as he moved around. He accosted Troyer’s son as he began making his way upstairs and screeched at him, asking him if he looked normal or if he could tell something was wrong with him. The boy was frightened by him and ran upstairs out of sight.

Troyer told Katie he couldn’t help them and that she should take her husband to a hospital and place him in a mental ward. Katie begged him to at least take a look at her husband. Troyer reluctantly took Gingerich to an exam room. When they emerged, Gingerich had a diagnostic eye card and several bottles of herbs in his hands. Katie paid him $340 for his time. As they left, he cautioned Katie once more about her husband’s mental condition and urged her to take him to a proper hospital, telling her he feared suicide.

On the ride home, Gingerich would grab at his scalp and scream that his brain was boiling. One of his brothers rubbed his feet, which seemed to relax him and he finally drifted off to sleep.

On March 18, 1993, Gingerich slept in until about nine a.m. He ignored Katie and the children as he left the house, unaware that Amish families were coming in from surrounding communities to attend the wedding of Noah Stutzman later that day. Katie had chosen not to tell her husband due to his mental health condition. Gingerich had other things on his mind anyway. He made his way to his father’s house and entered without knocking, pulling up a chair beside his father and telling him that Katie was trying to poison him.

His father told him that wasn’t true, that everyone loved him, but Gingerich insisted that not even God loved him. He said that his chemicals were out of balance. His father told him thoughtfully that he should just ask God to forgive him for whatever he had done. Gingerich told his father that God wouldn’t forgive him because he was possessed by the Devil. He told him that he could hear the Devil’s voice and that it was that of a female. He said he didn’t hear God. His father told him he could if he would only listen for it. Gingerich barked at him that he was listening but all he could hear was the Devil before storming back out of the house.

When Gingerich returned home, Katie told him that a driver was on his way to take them to see Doc Terrell. He seemed agreeable to this despite making no bones about disliking Doc Terrell’s techniques. However, the moment the doctor entered the exam room where he was waiting, Gingerich screeched at him to just tell him if he couldn’t cure him.

Doc Terrell told him he had been giving him liver pills and that he should take them, but Gingerich told him he needed something stronger for his headaches. The doctor told him that drugs were not the answer and refused to do so, instead giving him a scalp massage and sending him away with more liver pills.

Katie had planned to take turns with Gingerich’s brothers to babysit him for the rest of the day to give everyone a chance to attend the wedding events. They had all agreed to the plan, all except Gingerich, who would not be told until the last minute.

Danny Gingerich has already been taking a turn watching the children while Katie took his brother to Doc Terrell. He and his girlfriend stayed for lunch after the couple returned, along with the non-Amish neighbors who had driven them to the appointment. As mention of the wedding was made, Gingerich insisted that he was coming to the wedding with Katie that night but she tried to put him off, reminding him that he was too sick to attend. He insisted, claiming that it was the only way he could be saved.

Katie held her ground, telling him that they had already discussed it and that he needed to stay home and get his sleep so he would feel better. Gingerich told her that he knew who she was and that she was the Devil.

His erratic behavior broke up the impromptu luncheon and everyone departed. Gingerich then announced that he wanted to go to bed, adding that he didn’t want to hurt anybody and that he loved everybody. He went upstairs and went to bed, but he didn’t sleep long. He stumbled back into the kitchen a short time later insisting again that he had to go to the wedding and that it was the only way to save his soul.

Frustrated with him, Katie once again stood her ground, telling him he was too sick and that he wouldn’t even take his medicine to get better. Gingerich told her he didn’t take his medicine because she was trying to poison him. He screeched at her that he had the Devil in him and she was trying to kill the Devil by killing him. She told him she was trying to help him, not kill him. Gingerich gave up the fight and went to lay down on his cot.

As Gingerich slept and the children played on the floor, Katie went to the kitchen to wash the dishes. She was surprised when her husband was suddenly standing behind her and turned to ask him what was wrong. His response was to step back and slam his fist into the middle of her face, knocking her to the floor with her nose bleeding heavily. She asked him why he had done that to her and he shrieked at her that he was the Devil.

The children began crying and Katie sent the oldest, only six years old, to fetch his Uncle Dan to return to the house. She told him to hurry. Young Danny shot out the door while the younger two children sat frozen in place. Their son hurried to his uncle’s house and burst into the front door, telling Danny Gingerich that his father wasn’t feeling good. Looking at his nephew’s bare feet he’d just run through the snow with, he knew something was horribly wrong. He grabbed a mare from the barn and rode her bareback to his brother’s house to get there as quickly as possible.

Still, he was too late.

He arrived to find Gingerich with Katie still pinned down on the floor, motionless. Gingerich was still beating her about the face with both fists.

Danny screamed at him to get off of her and demanded to know what he was doing, moving in to physically stop him. Gingerich stood up and told him that he was giving her what she deserved. He then lifted his right foot and stomped it down on Katie’s face as hard as he could. Blood splattered everywhere and seemed to catch Gingerich’s attention for a moment before he dropped down and began beating her about the face again.

Danny lunged at him to knock him off of Katie, resulting in a wrestling match between the brothers on the floor. Danny could tell that his brother had no intention of stopping and that he might well be next. He ran out of the house, leaving the children behind, and got back on his horse, riding to a non-Amish neighbor’s house to dial 911. He told the operator that answered that his brother was killing his wife.

Medics dispatched to the scene had been told not to enter the house until state police arrived. As they waited, Gingerich emerged from the house with his daughter in his arms and his son walking hand in hand beside him. One of the paramedics asked him where he was headed with them and Gingerich told him he was taking them to his father’s house. When the medic asked about the condition of his wife, Gingerich told him he wouldn’t understand.

Since Gingerich was no longer in the house, the paramedics decided one of them with follow him and the children and the others would go into the house. They were in no way prepared for the horror they would find there.

They found that Gingerich had pulled on his heavier work boots after Danny left and stomped Katie’s head until she was no longer recognizable. The right side of her face had caved in and her brains were exposed. He had also undressed Katie and used a steak knife to cut a seven-inch incision in her lower abdomen. Through this incision, he had removed her lungs, kidneys, stomach, spleen, bladder, uterus, and heart. He stacked her organs in a pile and pinned them there with the knife before washing up in the sink.

Afterward, he threw the family bible in the fireplace to burn and told the children to put their coats on so he could take them to their grandfather’s house before he burned the house down.

As the cops arrived and Danny spoke with them about what happened, Gingerich approached and told them he was the man they were looking for. He was taken into custody without incident.

After giving a statement to police about what had happened, Danny made his way to the wedding that mostly everyone in the community was attending and announced to them that his brother had killed Katie.

In recordings of his police interrogation, Gingerich can be heard telling police that “for some reason, I think we could still save her.”

As Katie’s family prepared to hold her funeral, Gingerich was moved from his jail cell to a state mental hospital in North Warren, Pennsylvania for psychiatric evaluation. There was a bit of a problem between him and his transferring officers as he became convinced they were talking him out to the woods to shoot him, but he finally calmed down and cooperated with them.

The defense felt they had a strong case for mental defect and the backing of the family to testify to Gingerich’s mental health issues, but they quickly found they were wrong. The entire family was reluctant to testify without being compelled to do so. No one wanted anything to do with Gingerich’s defense. He had been effectively shunned for murder by the Amish community, including much of his own family.

The defense team wasn’t alone in their miscalculating the situation at hand though. The prosecution decided it best not to present actual crime scene photos, deeming them too graphic. Instead, they showed the jury what were considered child-like renderings of the crime scene that not only served to dehumanize the victim but gave an even more ghoulish air to the situation.

That wasn’t the only problem either. The original coroner in the case had moved on to another location and instead of bringing him back to testify to his first-hand accounting of Katie’s injuries, they brought in his replacement to provide a far less involved or impassioned statement as to what was contained in the original autopsy notes.

Gingerich was found guilty at trial of involuntary manslaughter “but mentally ill.” He was sentenced to a minimum term of two and a half years and a maximum of five years with credit for time served while pending trial. He was initially denied parole in December 1995. However, on March 19, 1998, at the age of 34, he was released from custody, having served his full sentence.

In January 2011, Gingerich was found hanged in a barn in Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania, where he’d been living with his former attorney. He had written “forgive me please” in the dust on top of a nearby bucket. His death was ruled a suicide.

Many in the community around him expressed relief that he was gone, as signs of his previous mental ailments had begun returning in his personality in the days before he took his own life.