The front page of the Carlisle Sentinel, January 15, 2007, told the story of the circumstances related to the police shooting of Joseph Dum, who was parked near the site where the body of Elaine Pierson was found in Perry County, Pennsylvania. As it turned out, Dum had nothing to do with Pierson’s death.
In early January, 2007, the community of Gratz, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, was rocked by the arrest of Rochelle Laudenslager, who was raised there and had graduated from Upper Dauphin Area High School in the 1970s. She was charged with the first-degree murder of Elaine Pierson, whose body was found in a ditch in Perry County. The murder weapon was found hidden in the attic of Laudenslager’s mother’s house in Gratz. Prosecutors sought the death penalty because evidence showed that Pierson was subjected to torture in the process of being killed by Laudenslager. The story that came out over time was that Laudenslager and Pierson were former lovers and that Laudenslager was trying to get back together with Pierson, but Pierson was already in a relationship with another woman.
In a nine-part series of blog posts, the story of the murder, the investigation, the charges, and the eventual sentencing is told as it appeared in the pages of the Carlisle Sentinel. Because of the pain caused to Pierson’s many friends and neighbors as well as the recency of the crime, their names have been omitted from the story.
At the present time, Rochelle Laudenslager has served about half of the minimum of her 30 to 60 year sentence in state prison.
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Part 4 – A Diverson – Police Kill Man Near Crime Scene
From the Carlisle Sentinel, January 15, 2007:
AUTOPSY SET FOR MAN SHOT BY TROOPER
But Joseph Dum wasn’t connected to the Elaine Pierson homicide, his brother says
By Tatliana Zarnowski, Sentinel Reporter
About three weeks ago, Joseph D. Dum told his younger brother he wouldn’t ever go back to jail, where he had served once for a DUI offense.
Now Alan Dum suspects that reasoning led Joseph Dum to cut himself after police shot him, following a chase and altercation in Perry County on Saturday.
Police should consider consider Joseph Dum‘s death a suicide, his brother said. The elder Dum suffered for years, possibly since childhood, from undiagnosed mental illness that eroded his reasoning abilities over time and also caused him to turn to alcohol and drugs to “self-medicate,” Alan Dum said.
“I believe he’s in a better place,” the Monroe Township man said this morning.
Joseph Dum, 52, lived in Harrisburg, police say, but the family grew up in Perry County, on a farm near Landisburg, his brother said.
Parked Near Murder Scene
Police say around 2:30 p. m. Saturday, they spotted Dum parked on the side of the road in the area of Lambs Gap and Idle roads in Rye Township, near where the body of Elaine Pierson was found a week earlier.
Police were in the area conducting interviews on the Pierson case and approached Dum’s Honda Accord to ask if he needed help and see why he was in the area. But Dum fled in his vehicle before they could.
Troopers chased him down New Valley Road where they say Dum crashed into several objects before driving into a field at the intersection of New Valley Road and Heisley Lane.
Police then approached Dum’s car on foot and “issued verbal commands,” which they say Dum ignored, according to a report.
So police broke out the car’s passenger window and a officer climbed in. At that point Dum lunged at the officer with “an edged weapon,” and the trooper fired at least one shot at Dum, police say. Dum then cut himself numerous times with the weapon. Podo not specify whether it was a knife or razor.
Troopers administered first aid to Dum until medical personnel arrived, but he died. Police say they do not know whether Dum died as a result of a gunshot wound or the self-inflicted wounds.
Perry County District Attorney Chad Chenot says authorities were “going to try” to do an autopsy today in Allentown, which would determine the cause of death.
Toxicology results that will show whether Dum had any alcohol or drugs in his system will come from a lab and take a few weeks, Chenot says.
He notes that area of Lambs Gap Road is frequented at night by teens and drug users, because it is remote and people can easily pull off the road.
Alan Dum suspects his brother was back off the wagon after completing a court-mandated rehab around Christmas.
Dum says he doesn’t know why his brother was in Perry County on Saturday, but he says it had nothing to do with Pierson, whose friends found her body January 6 in the woods.
Chenot says a criminal investigation also will include a search of Dum’s car and police will determine whether Dum had any tie to Pierson.
In the Neighborhood
The two troopers doing neighborhood interviews, Gregory McCombs and Corey Robenolt were in plainclothes on Saturday, driving around the neighborhood and talking to people who were out and about, Chenot siad.
Usually officers on that kind of assignment drive unmarked vehicles, but Chenot wasn’t sure what McCombs and Robenolt were driving.
Now the two are assigned to desk duty pending an internal state police investigation — McCombs at Carlisle and Robenolt at Newport — where they can make phone calls and work on cold cases but can’t go out in the field.
Chenot says taking the two officers off the street will rearrange the manpower on the homicide investigation, not reduce it.
Around the same time police were chasing Dum in Perry County, mourners were visiting with Pierson’s family before a memorial service in Phoenixville, where more than 400 people packed a church sanctuary, stood in the hallway and sat on folding chairs in two rooms behind it.
Pierson was killed sometime after December 27, when a friend had a cell phone conversation with her around 8:15 p. m. Friends reported her missing December 29. Her body was dumped about three miles from he home on Trout Lane.
Police have focused their investigation on one woman, Rochelle K. Laudenslager, 45, of Lower Paxton Township, but won’t say Laudenslager is a suspect in the case. On January 7, state troopers searched her home and her two vehicles and her mother’s home in Gratz Borough.
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From the Carlisle Sentinel, January 16, 2007:
MAN SHOT BY POLICE STABBED HIMSELF
But two investigations into whether officers erred will still take place
By Tatliana Zarnowski, Sentinel Reporter
The man state police shot in Perry County on Saturday died from a self-inflicted stab wound to the heart, not the gunshot wound to his arm, an autopsy concluded Monday.
Still, a state police internal investigation will focus on whether troopers Gregory McCombs and Corey Robenolt followed police policies and procedures when they responded to an incident with Joseph D. Dum, 52, of Harrisburg.
And a separate investigation conducted by the state police criminal investigation unit in Harrisburg will determine whether McCombs, a 15-year veteran, and Robenolt, a six-year officer, did anything to cause Dum to hurt himself, Perry County District Attorney Chad Chenot said during a press conference Monday at the Marysville Fire Company.
While they were out doing neighborhood interviews in the Elaine Pierson homicide investigation, the troopers spotted Dum’s Honda Accord parked along Lambs Gap Road near the intersection with Idle Road in Rye Township around 2:30 p. m. That’s the same area where Pierson’s body was found January 6.
So the officers approached Dum’s car to ask if he needed help and see what he was doing there, police said. But Dum took off so police chased him along New Valley road until Dum drove into a field at New Valley Road and Heisley Lane.
After Dum ignored “verbal commands.” police said, one of the troopers broke out the car’s passenger window and climbed in. At that point, Dum lunged at the officer with the knife and the trooper fired one shot. The trooper was treated at the scene, but police did not say whether the injuries were inflicted by Dum or were from climbing in the broken car window.
Officers also performed first air on Dum until medical personnel arrived.
Chenot said the investigation will focus on questions such as “Why did they break the window? Why did they enter the car?”
Sgt. Gilbert Morrissey, state police spokesman said counseling has been offered to the two troopers and investigators may wait a little bit before interviewing them.
“Sometimes it’s not always best to interview right away,” he said.
The investigations many be lengthy, Morrissey said, “There is going to be a lot of stuff that has to be reviewed.
Meanwhile, the two troopers are on desk duty at their respective stations — McCombs at Carlisle and Robenolt at Newport — where that can make phone calls and work on cold cases but can’t go out in the field.
Chenot said taking the two officers off the street will rearrange manpower on the Pierson homicide investigation, not reduce it.
So far, the only connection Dum had with Pierson’s death is that he was at the site, he said.
Perry County Coroner Mike Shalonis said an autopsy performed Monday in Allentown determined Dum died from “massive internal blood loss” caused by a 4 to 6 inch knife wound that pierced his heart. Shalonis declined to describe the knife further, but also said its blade was between 4 and 6 inches.
Self-Inflicted Wounds
Dum had stabbed himself multiple times in the chest and sliced his left wrist several times, causing “superficial lacerations” there, Shalonis said. One one cut pierced his heart, and Dum probably died within a minute or two of that wound, he said.
The gunshot wound to Dum’s upper right arm was not life threatening, Shalonis said. Authorities would not specify which trooper fired the shot.
Dum’s brother, Alan Dum of Monroe Township, said his brother suffered for years from undiagnosed mental illness that eroded his reasoning abilities over time and caused him to turn to alcohol and drugs to “self-medicate.”
Police say they also found drug paraphernalia in Joseph Dum’s car.
Awaiting Reports
Toxicology results that will show whether Dum had an drugs in his system at the time of the confrontation won’t be available for several weeks.
Dum had a history of drug use, including a 2002 charge of driving under the influence and aggravated assault by vehicle. He pleaded guilty to causing a crash on Route 34 in Carroll Township that injured Perry County Solicitor William Bunt.
He was sentenced to 11 to 23 months in Perry County Prison followed by three years’ probation for that incident.
in March, Dum was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia in Harrisburg, and his court docket indicates he was expected to appear in court February 21 to plead guilty to that charge.
Dum was also awaiting a February 1 formal arraignment in Perry County Court on four counts of forgery and one count of each of theft by unlawful taking and criminal conspiracy brought against him in November.
Authorities note that the area of Lambs Gap Road where Dum was parked is frequented at night by teens and drug users because it is remote and people can easily pull off the road.
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From the Carlisle Sentinel, January 30, 2007:
D. A. CLEARS TROOPERS IN SHOOTING
There’s still no connection found between Joseph Dum and the Elaine Pierson homicide, authorities say.
By Tatliana Zarnowski, Sentinel Reporter
The state police trooper who shot a Harrisburg man after a chase in Perry County January 13 was justified in taking that action, according to District Attorney Charles Chenot.
Trooper Gregory McCombs fired the single round that hit Joseph Dum‘s upper arm, Chenot said during a news conference Monday at state police barracks at Newport. Dum then stabbed himself to death in the heart, the country coroner has said.
Chenot related the chain of events that led to McCombs shooting Dum as described by the two troopers who were present and a father and daughter who were driving by and witnessed part of the incident.
McCombs, who is stationed at state police barracks at Carlisle, and Trooper Corey Robenolt, who works out of the Newport barracks were working n the Elaine Pierson homicide investigation canvassing Rye Township on January 13 when McCombs approached Dum’s vehicle to ask why he was parked on a dirt section of Idle Road near where searchers found the woman’s body.
Joined Pursuit
Dum fled, police said, and McCombs pursued him along New Valley Road. Robenolt heard the radio calls and joined him at some point, Chenot said.
“They were working together, but they weren’t together at the time,” he said.
During the chase Dum’s vehicle struck McCombs vehicle, causing damage to its right side, and forced Robenolt’s vehicle off the road.
After Dum ran off the road into a field and got stuck in the mud, Chenot said, the two troopers told him to get out of the vehicle, but Dum continued to rev his engine, rocking the vehicle back and forth and spin his tires in an attempt to get away. McCombs then broke the passenger window with the butt of his gun, and accidentally dropped the gun onto the seat beside Dum.
When he leaned to get in, Dum lunged at him with the knife, Chenot said. That’s when McCombs fired the shot. Chenot said Dum didn’t say much until he stabbed himself. Then “he indicated that he cut himself and he was sorry,” Chenot said. Ringer said state police are keeping Dum’s family in their “thoughts and prayers.”
Authorities still don’t know why he was parked alongside Idle Road when the pursuit began. Police found a crack cocaine pipe in Dum’s Honda, the DA said. He has said that the area of Idle and Lambs Gap roads is a spot for underage parties and drug activity.
A separate internal state police investigation to determine whether the troopers followed policies and procedures is continuing.
Both troopers have been on desk duty since the shooting, and state police Sgt. Charles Ringer said the department likely will “move forward with” putting the officers back on duty.
No Connection
Chenot said authorities have found no connection between Dum and Pierson, and that Dum “may not even followed this in the news,” he said of the homicide investigation.
Pierson, 48, was last heard from during a December 27 phone call and then vanished from her Rye Township home.
Friends searching for her body after a two-day police search ended fruitlessly found her body off Idle road on January 6. Police are calling her death a homicide but haven’t released her cause of death.
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News articles and photo obtained through Newspapers.com.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.