Part 2 of 2.
On April 1, 1985, two elderly women were found dead in their apartments in Perry County, Pennsylvania. At first, the police considered the possibility that this was a murder-suicide. Eventually, by May 22, 1985, the killings were ruled homicides. What was initially not revealed is that both women had met their deaths execution style, with close-range gunshots to the head.
At about the same time, it was announced that JoAnn M. Lawrence, then of Mount Joy, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, had been arrested for forging a check on the bank account of one of the dead women. Lawrence originally was from Williamstown, Dauphin County, and was a 1972 graduate of Williams Valley High School, where she played on the school’s championship basketball team. From information in newspaper articles, it was learned that after high school she attended West Georgia College in Carrollton, Georgia, served in the military as an Army nurse, and later became a lover to the daughter of one of the women who ended up getting murdered.
While she was not arrested and charged with the murders in 1985, she was considered a suspect. In 1985, she was convicted on the charge of forgery and sentenced to two years probation. During her probation, she moved back to Williamstown. Eventually, in 1988, after being arrested in Williamstown on a credit card fraud charge, and while she was waiting in the Dauphin County jail on the resolution of that matter, police arrested her and charged her with the murder of the two women in 1985.
The trial took place in May, 1988. She was found guilty on both counts. Despite the fact that the District Attorney called for the death penalty, the jury overruled and she was sentenced to two life terms in prison.
In a February 28, 2013 posting on Penn Live, the web site of the Harrisburg Patriot-News, the following was stated: Joann M. Lawrence, 58, had died at the State Collection Institution at Muncy.
In Part 1, some of the news stories that reported the murder and the arrest and conviction of JoAnne Lawrence on the forgery charge were presented.
In this post, some of the news stories on the arrest, trial and conviction of Lawrence is presented.
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From the Lancaster New Era, April 21, 1988:
JURORS CHOSEN IN HOMICIDE CASE
Jury selection is underway in Perry County Court today for the woman charged with criminal homicide in the death of two cousins.
JoAnn Marie Lawrence, 32, was arrested last fall for the April 1985 death of two Millerstown women, Olie B. Reed, 65, and Jesse E. Lyon, 69.
State police said Miss Lawrence was receiving money from the women and had deposited a $4,000 check on the day Miss Reed died. Miss Lawrence was charged with forgery in May 1945, police said she tried to kill herself.
Trooper Donald L. Harriman said Miss Lawrence lived in Mount Joy for about two years until her suicide attempt. She then went to live with her parents in Williamstown, Dauphin County.
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From the Lancaster New Era, April 28, 1988
Death Penalty Sought Against Ex-Countian
The Perry County district attorney has asked for the death penalty for a former Mount Joy woman on trial there for the murder of two cousins.
JoAnn Marie Lawrence, 32, formerly of Harvest view North, is on trial in Perry County Court for two counts of criminal homicide in the death of Olie B. Reed, 65, and Jessie Elizabeth Lyon, 69.,
The two women were found shot to death in their Millerstown apartments in April 1985. Millersville is a small borough along the Juniata River, north of Harrisburg.
Perry County District Attorney R. Scott Cramer made the request during opening remarks to the jury Wednesday. Testimony in the trial was scheduled to begin today.
State police said Miss Lawrence was receiving money from the women and had deposited a $4,000 check on the day Miss Reed died. When Miss Lawrence was charged with forgery one month later, she tried to kill herself, police said.
After recovering from the suicide, Miss Lawrence was placed on probation and went to live with her parents in dauphin County.
In October, Miss Lawrence was charged with the murders while in Dauphin County Prison on unrelated charges.
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From the Lancaster New Era, May 6, 1988:
EX-MT. JOY WOMAN GUILTY OF MURDERS
by Janet Kelley
New Era Staff Writer
A former Mount Joy woman has been convicted in Perry County Court of killing two elderly women and the district attorney there asked the jury today to impose the death penalty.
JoAnne Marie Lawrence, 32 formerly of Harvestview North Apartments was convicted of two counts of first degree murder Thursday for the murder of two Millerstown cousins three years ago.
This morning the trial went into the penalty phase to determine whether the woman should receive a sentence of life in prison of, as Perry County District Attorney R. Scott Cramer asked the death penalty.
Cramer’s request is the first time in Perry County history that the death penalty has been sought for a convicted murderer, according to court personnel.
Miss Lawrence was charged last October with killing Olie B. Reed, 65, and Jessie E. Lyon, 69, in April 1985. Each woman had been killed by a single shot to the side of the hear fired at close range police said.
Two days after the bodies were found, state police in Perry County were contacted by an official of a Mount Joy bank, who said that the bank had received a check for $4,000 payable to Miss Lawrence and drawn against Miss reed’s account.
The check Trooper Donald L. Harriman said, had been returned for insufficient funds.
Harriman said he went to Mount Joy to interview Miss Lawrence and her two roommates, one of whom was Mrs. Lyon’s daughter.
Initially, Harriman said Miss Lawrence had told him that she and Miss Reed were friends and that she often received small sums of cash on birthdays and special occasions.
Miss Lawrence told the trooper that she had received a blank check from the woman which she had requested to pay bills, Harriman said. Miss Lawrence, the trooper said, deposited $3,700 in Mount Joy bank and kept $300.
In May 1985, state police charged Miss Lawrence with forging a $4,000 check belonging to Miss Reed on the day the woman was killed.
The day after she was charged, Miss Lawrence was hospitalized in what police called a “possible attempted suicide.”
After recovering, the was eventually sentenced in Lancaster County Court to two years probation. She then went to live with her parents in Williamstown, Pennsylvania.
Miss Reed, a retired Army nurse, had served for many years as mayor of the small borough located along the Juniata River. Her cousin, Mrs. Lyons returned to her hometown from Chicago after her husband died.
The two women lived in separate apartments in the same building, sharing meals and caring for their 83-year-old uncle. It was their uncle who found the bodies the day after the murder.
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From the Sunbury Daily Item, May 6, 1988:
WOMAN, 33, CONVICTED IN MILLERSTOWN SLAYINGS
By David Hilliard
Snyder County Bureau
NEW BLOOMFIELD — A Perry County jury last night found a Dauphin County woman guilty of first-degree murder in the 1965 shooting deaths of two Millerstown women.
The same jury reconvened this morning to decided whether JoAnn M. Lawrence, 33, formerly of Williamstown, should be sentenced to death for the slayings of Olie B. Reed, 65, and Jessie E. Lyon, 69, two cousins who were shot in separate apartments on April 1, 1985.
The jury of eight men and four women deliberated nearly nine hours yesterday before returning the guilty verdicts on each of two homicide counts.
Authorities at first thought the deaths might have been the result of a murder and suicide. The bodies were found April 2, 1985, in separate units of the Savercool Apartments in Millerstown. Each died of a single close-range gunshot wound to the head. Investigators said a .38-caliber revolver was found on the older woman’s lap. Following examination of the bodies, however, investigators determined that both women had been murdered.
Testimony during the trial revealed that Ms. Lawrence had visited the victims with Elizabeth Lyon, Jessie Lyon’s daughter. Elizabeth Lyon and Ms. Lawrence met when both were in the Army and later became lovers, according to testimony.
Perry County District Attorney R. Scott Cramer told the jury Ms. Lawrence wanted to benefit from a $70,000 estate Elizabeth Lyon would inherit when the women died. She visited the apartments alone on April 1, 1985, and carried out the murders, prosecutors said.
Public defender Shaubut C. Walz, suggested during his closing argument that Elizabeth Lyon might have killed the woman to inherit the money.
State police at Newport reportedly broke the case in September when they interviewed a Buffalo, New York, man who said he had talked with Ms. Lawrence on a bus ride from Cleveland to Seattle. Ms. Lawrence told the man she had killed two people in Pennsylvania, police said.
Authorities arrested her in Seattle in connection with alleged credit card thefts in Harrisburg. She was extradited to Dauphin County and was imprisoned in the county jail when she was arrested October 22 on the homicide charges.
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From the Lancaster New Era, May 7, 1988:
EX-MT. JOY WOMAN SPARED DEATH FOR 2 PERRY CO. MURDERS
by Janet Kelley
New Era Staff Writer
A Perry County Court jury Friday afternoon spared the life of a former Mount Joy woman convicted of killing two elderly woman three years ago.
JoAnn Marie Lawrence, 32, formerly of Harvestview North Apartments was convicted Thursday night by the jury of eight men and four women of two counts of first-degree murder.
The break in the case came last September when police learned about a Buffalo man who said Miss Lawrence spoke to him about the incident during a bus ride to Seattle from Cleveland.
On Friday, after listening to arguments by District Attorney R. Scott Cramer and Public Defender Shaubut C. Walz, the jury decided the woman should receive life in prison rather than the death penalty for her crimes.
Perry County President Judge Keith B. Quigley ruled that the life terms be served one after the other.
The jurors deliberated almost nine hours before returning with the two guilty verdicts Thursday night at 9:20 p.m.
They returned late Friday morning to hear additional arguments for and against the death penalty and announced their decision for life in prison Friday afternoon after brief deliberations.
Cramer’s request for the death penalty was the first ever in Perry County.
One state trooper not associated with the Lawrence prosecution speculated today that the Perry County jury probably decided on life in prison in case there was even the slightest chance they were wrong.
Miss Lawrence was convicted for the deaths of Olie Reed, 65, and her cousin, Jesse Lyon, 69, who were found shot once in the head at close range in their Millerstown apartments in April 1965.
Two days after the bodies were found, state police were notified that Miss Lawrence had attempter to cash a $4,000 check from Miss Reed dated the same day as the woman’s death.
Miss Lawrence was charged the following month with forgery and was hospitalized the next day for what police described as a “possible attempted suicide.” She served two years of probation and moved to Dauphin County, where she was arrested in October on murder charges.
Cramer had said that Miss Lawrence “intentionally and deliberately, shot each woman in the head with a .38-caliber revolver.”
Cramer described Miss Reed’s death as an “execution-type killing.” he said the defendant pushed Reed’s head against the floor and fired with the gun barrel pressed against her skull.
Testimony placed the time of the deaths as a minute or two apart between 8:40 and 9 p.m. on April 1, 1985. The women lived in separate apartments in the same building in Millerstown, located north of Harrisburg, along the Juniata river.
One neighbor testified she heard Miss Reed scream, and another neighbor said she heard two loud noises, but thought the sound was caused by windows being slammed.
The women’s bodies were found the following night by the cousins 83-year-old uncle, Jay Reed Sr., who became concerned when he did not hear from either woman.
Walz suggested to the jury that the women may have been killed by Elizabeth Lyon, JoAnn’s roommate, who had the most to gain as the one who inherited both estates totaling about $70,000.
JoAnn Lawrence might have killed Olie Reed and Jesse Lyon, Walz told the jury, “but maybe is not sufficient.”
During the trial Cramer outlined the activities and lifestyle of Miss Lawrence since she and Miss Lyon were in the Army and met at the Carlisle barracks in 1977. They moved into a Mount Joy apartment as lovers in 1978.
They visited the two victims frequently in Millerstown but on March 20, 1985, according to testimony, Miss Lawrence visited alone.
She said she intended to give Mrs. Lyon the .38-caliber revolver because she had requested it for protection.
Cramer said he believes Miss Lawrence went there March 20 to kill the woman but was scared away because of the presence of Miss Reed.
She visited alone again on April 1, 1985, Cramer said, and that time accomplished the deeds.
Miss Lawrence’s motive, he said was the money she knew she would benefit from when her roommate inherited the estates because, “she could manipulate and deceive Liz.”
Newport-based state police Troopers Donald Harriman and Robert Howell spent 2 1/2 years investigating the killings.”
Miss Lawrence was the prime suspect from the start, but they were looking for the final bit of evidence to make their case, Harriman said.
The break came last September when they learned about a Buffalo man who said Miss Lawrence spoke to him about the crime during a bus ride to Seattle from Cleveland.
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From the Sunbury Daily Item, May 9, 1988:
JURY RECOMMENDS LIFE IN PRISON FOR WOMAN CONVICTED IN SLAYINGS
NEW BLOOMFIELD — A Perry County jury rejected a prosecution request for the death penalty and recommended that JoAnn M. Lawrence be sentenced to life imprisonment for the slayings of two Millerstown women in 1985.
The jury of eight men and four women returned its verdict on the death penalty at 3:20 p.m., after about three hours of deliberation, a court spokeswoman said.
Ms. Lawrence, 33, formerly of Williamstown, Dauphin County, was convicted by the same jury Thursday on two counts of first-degree homicide in the shooting deaths of Olie B. Reed, 65, and her cousin, Jessie E. Lyon, 69, on April 1, 1985.
The bodies were discovered the next morning in separate units at the Savercool Apartments in Millerstown. Authorities said both women were shot at close range with a .38-caliber revolver. During the eight-day trial, a man from Buffalo, New York, testified that Ms. Lawrence told him during a bus ride from Cleveland to Seattle that she had killed two people in Pennsylvania.
Prosecutor’s told the jury that Ms. Lawrence killed the women to benefit from a $70,000 inheritance that a friend, Elizabeth Lyon, would receive. Jesse Lyon was Elizabeth’s mother.
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News article and photo from Newspapers.com.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.