In early July 1997, Ivan F. Fesig was found stabbed to death in his mobile home in Valley View, Schuylkill, County, Pennsylvania. Following an extensive investigation, William J. Huth, also of Valley View, was arrested and charged with the first-degree murder of Fesig, a charge that if convicted could result in the death penalty for him. But a deal with prosecutors resulted in a confession to a lesser charge of third-degree murder and possession of an instrument of crime. Huth was sentenced to 22 1/2 to 45 years in state prison.
This was the second murder within a year that took place in Valley View. Previously, in December 1996, Leanne Larson, was found dead in her home. Subsequently, before Huth’s plea and sentencing in July 1998, Larson’s brother, Randy J. Smith and his wife Beverly Ann Smith were charged with her murder. The Smiths’ trial took place in May 1998.
While the two murders were not connected, the fact that they both occurred so close to each other in time and place, “put the village [of Valley View] on edge.”
Huth’s confession and plea deal put him in prison, but his legal troubles were not over. In 2003, using DNA evidence, Huth was charged and convicted of the 1993 murder of James J. Buglia, which took place only a few miles from Tremont, Schuylkill County. Thus, Fesig’s murder was the second committed by Huth within a five year period.
This post deals specifically with the murder of Ivan F. Fesig, 1997. It is told through news articles which appeared in area newspapers. The post tomorrow will look at the the 1993 murder of James J. Buglia, and two days from now, the solving of the Buglia murder.
Note: The Larson murder will be the subject of future blog posts.
_______________________________
From the Pottsville Republican, 8 July 1997 (photo, above)
State Troopers Bernard J. Walasavage and Lisa M. Covery keep the area secure around stabbing victim Ivan F. Fesig’s home.
__________________________________
From the Pottsville Republican, 7 July 1997:
Valley View man stabbed to death
Victim, 68, found slain in his home
By Stephen J. Pytak
Staff Writer
VALLEY VIEW – State police continue to look for clues in the slaying of a 68-year old Hegins Township man who died of multiple stab wounds in his home Friday night or Saturday morning.
Ivan F. Fesig, 1664 W. Maple Street, was found dead Saturday in his mobile home, said police, who believe the slaying occurred between 9 p.m. Friday and 9:45 a.m. Saturday.
“The police are trying to find the reasons behind this, and there’s never a logical reason for a homicide,” said Sgt. David J. Shinskie, who heads the state police at Schuylkill Haven crime unit.
“The investigation is in its infancy,” he said Sunday night.
While no suspect has been pinpointed, state police are looking for a man seen riding a bicycle near Fesig’s home Friday.
They are looking for a white man with facial hair and wearing a T-shirt, shorts and a hat who was riding a bike that may have been yellowish-gold in color.
Fesig was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:45 a.m. Saturday by assistant coroner Keith Koppenhauer, police said.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Richard P. Bindie ruled the cause of death was a criminal homicide due to multiple stab wounds, police said.
This morning troopers were sending blood evidence gathered at the crime scene to the State Police Crime Lab at Bethlehem.
Police gathered evidence at the home all day Saturday and Sunday.
“Nobody in town knows what’s going on,” said Sherry J. Heiser, 906 Maple Street, who said she saw plainclothes officers questioning neighbors on Main Street for clues.
Trooper Dominic G. Visconti of the Schuylkill Haven barracks is heading the investigation with assistance from the Schuylkill County District Attorney’s Office and county Detective Eugene R. Taylor, who was on scene around 9 p.m. Sunday. Also aiding the investigation is the Records and Identification Unit from State Police Troop L, Reading, and Hegins Township police, including Chief Steven P. Lohr.
On Sunday night, sheets were placed over the windows of the mobile home to prevent people from seeing in. Yellow tape was stretched around the perimeter of the grassy front yard, which is decorated with a white windmill.
Shinskie said most of Fesig’s relatives do not live in the township, but he does have kin through marriage living locally.
“This was his wife’s home. She passed away,” he said while standing outside of the white mobile home drinking spring water around 9:30 p.m. Sunday.
When asked what room the man’s body was found in and other questions about the investigation, Shinskie refused to answer.
Watching Shinskie and the police enter the house Sunday was Dolores M. Huntsinger, 64, who looked out from her screen door across the street at 1665 W. Maple Street.
She said she felt a little uneasy sleeping Saturday night.
“But I must say the police were here all night and I felt more at ease when I saw them, here,” she said.
She and her husband, Melvin L. Huntsinger, 66, knew Fesig during the 25 years they lived in Valley View.
They described him as a tall man who was short-winded and who enjoyed finding and selling metal junk for cash.
Fesig tried not to talk too much, Mr. Huntzinger said.
“He just waved when he went past. We didn’t talk too often,” Mrs. Huntzinger said.
The Huntzingers said they didn’t notice anything suspicious in the neighborhood Friday night.
Mrs. Huntzinger said on Friday evening, she was busy baking a chocolate cake, two rhubarb custards and a strawberry cream pie for family.
“He was the type of guy who minded his own business,” her husband said. “He never bothered anybody. He just enjoyed living.”
__________________________________
The obituary of Ivan F. Fesig appeared in the Pottsville Republican, 7 July 1997:
Ivan F. Fesig
Ivan F. Fesig, 68, of 1664 W. Maple Street, Valley View, died Friday at his home.
Born in Tower City on January 31, 1929, he was a son of the late John Fesig and Bertha [Lebo] Fesig.
He was a retired steel mill laborer. He was a member of St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church, Valley View.
He was preceded in death by his wife, the former Beatrice Morgan, October 28, 1994, brother Russell Fesig, and two sisters, Henrietta Housgod and Arlene Kessler.
Surviving are three brothers: Donald Fesig, Tower City; Clyde Fesig, Lebanon; and Alfred Fesig, Millersburg. Three sisters: Grace Underkoffler, Orwin; Rose Weaver, Millersburg; and Helen Steger, Baltimore, Maryland; nieces and nephews.
Services will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday from Miller Berger Funeral Home, Valley View. The Rev. Raymond Brooks will officiate. Interment will be in the St. Andrew’s United Methodist Cemetery.
___________________________________
From the Pottsville Republican, 8 July 1997
Slaying puts village on edge
Probe continues into Valley View’s 2nd homicide in 7 months
By Kim Yakowski
Staff Writer
VALLEY VIEW – People in this small village are living with an uneasiness again.
There’s been another homicide.
The second slaying since December, this one of a 68-year-old man suffering from emphysema, has people scared and shocked.
It’s frightening,” said Barbara A. Messner, 1661 W. Maple Street. “I always locked my doors, but now I’ll be more cautious.”
State police troopers from the Schuylkill Haven barracks said Ivan F. Fesig, 68, was found dead with multiple stab wounds in his 1664 W. Maple Street mobile home on Saturday morning. He was pronounced dead at 10:45 a.m. by county Deputy Coroner Keith Koppenhaver.
“There are kind of mixed feelings in the community. Some are not really affected at all; some are scared,” said Hegins Township Police Chief Steven S. Lohr.
Police say they have few leads in the Hegins Township case, although a white male riding a bicycle near the location may be connected, troopers said.
The body was found Saturday morning by Fesig’s great-nephew, whose name is not being released.
“Police did a thorough investigation,” said Dr. Richard P. Bindle, pathologist at Pottsville Hospital.
Fesig, who was a retired steel mill worker, hauled scrap as a sideline and lived alone in a newer model, gray mobile home.
His wife, Beatrice Fesig, known for her cooking skills, died in 1994. The couple did not have children.
“It makes you uneasy,” said Dolores M. Huntsinger, 1665 W. Maple, of the idea of a killer being on the loose.
She said Fesig was in the habit of leaving his doors open during the summer and many times had visitors there to perform chores.
A row of chairs lines the added-on porch that looks out onto the front yard, decorated with a wooden windmill. A porch light still shines.
Well-maintained homes make up the neighborhood, where people walk and cycle throughout the day.
Fesig’s property was released Monday to his nephew, Lee I. Morgan, Hegins Township, who has power-of-attorney.
Morgan, just 12 years old when his father died, needed direction in his teen years, so he turned to his uncle Ivan.
“We would go fishing and he would help out” around Morgan’s home, he said.
That giving relationship turned full circle in recent years as the now adult Morgan cared for Fesig, who was suffering from severe emphysema.
Morgan said he believed his uncle was targeted.
“We are grateful to all of the neighbors who pitched in and told what they saw,” he said.
Neighbors describe Fesig as a quiet man who “kept to himself,” but would wave or chat on occasion.
“He used to stop and talk once and a while if he felt the need, say a few words and then, off on his way, said Jason Wright, 17, of 1663 W. Maple.
Wright and his friends ride their bikes past Fesig’s home almost every day.
Neighbor Carla J. Thomas, 1715 W. Maple, used to transport Fesig’s wife to the hospital for cancer treatments.
Thomas remembers one occasion when Fesig replaced her car windshield after it had been damaged by a rock.
“He was friendly: he wouldn’t harm a fly,” she said.
Residents experienced the same uneasiness in December when Leann Larson was found dead in her west Main Street home in Valley View. In January, Randy J. Smith and Beverly Ann Smith were charged with homicide: Larson was Randy Smith’s sister.
__________________________________
From the Allentown Morning Call, 9 July 1997:
Hegins murder investigation ‘progressing very, very fast’
State police have the bicycle they say the killer used after stabbing Ivan Fesig
By CHUCK AYERS
Of The Morning Call
State police at Schuylkill Haven say their investigation into the stabbing death of a Hegins Township man is speeding along.
“This investigation is progressing very, very fast,” said Sgt. David J. Shinskie, head of the barracks’ crime unit.
Shinskie said police may have recovered the yellow-gold bicycle that witnesses say was ridden Friday night by a man leaving the area of Ivan F. Fesig’s home at 1664 W. Maple Street, Valley View.
“We have a bicycle, but we have to wait for a lab report. We can’t divulge where it was found,” Shinskie said.
Police said they could have significant test results by this morning on blood, hair and fiber samples removed from Fesig’s mobile home.
Fesig’s body was discovered by a nephew Saturday morning in the hallway of the mobile home. The part-time village junk collector was stabbed repeatedly, according to autopsy results.
Even though police may have recovered the bicycle, they are looking for the man believed to have been riding it from the scene.
“We have not identified him 100 percent. We’re still interested in any information or anyone who knows his whereabouts or would’ve seen him in that area. Even if we knew who the guy was, we would want people telling us this is the guy that was there,” Shinskie said.
Police said the man had facial hair and wore a T-shirt and shorts when spotted Friday night.
Additional developments in the case are being held close to the vest by police, who maintain a choke hold on information. Even Hegins Township police are being kept in the dark, according to Chief Steven I. Lohr.
“Since we initially got called and turned it over to state police, we haven’t heard a thing.” Lohr said.
State police have declined to discuss possible motives in the killing, how entry was gained into the home, whether anything was taken or whether a struggle occurred.
While Shinskie said police took a number of potential weapons from the home for testing, he declined to say whether any of them is the knife used in the slaying.
“We’re testing certain items to see if they could have caused the stab wounds. To my knowledge right now, the murder weapon has not been positively identified,” Shinskie said.
In addition to the evidence collected at the scene and from the autopsy, Shinskie said, 25 more items are expected to be submitted to the state police crime lab in Bethlehem over the next day or two.
“We have a very good investigation that we are following up on,” Shinskie said.
__________________________________
From the Pottsville Republican, 15 November 1997:
Prosecutors seek death penalty in Valley View homicide case
Defense meanwhile contemplated insanity defense for Huth
BY PAULA REED WARD
Staff Writer
Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a man charged in the July 4 murder in Valley View.
Meanwhile, William J. Huth’s defense attorney, Gregory A. Stapp, said he may present an insanity defense.
Huth, 34, of 1339 W. Main Street, Valley View, is charged with killing Ivan F. Fesig, 68, of 1664 W. Maple Street.
Assistant District Attorney Edward M. Brennan said there were aggravating circumstances which allow him to seek the death penalty under state law.
Prosecutors believe Huth tortured Fesig and committed the killing during the course of a felony, in this case, a robbery.
“Based on the wounds, we don’t believe the victim was able to defend himself,” Brennan said. “Some of the wounds were as if someone was torturing him.”
Those wounds included multiple stab wounds with a kitchen knife, according to the affidavit of probable cause.
According to Fesig’s great-nephew, Fesig had always kept large sums of money in his home, sometimes up to $2,000. Police found no money in the home except for some loose change, police said.
Neither of the aggravating circumstances is applicable in Huth’s case, Stapp said.
“We don’t feel the death penalty is appropriate,” he said. “But I’m not surprised he filed the intention.”
The death penalty is carried out by lethal injection in Pennsylvania, at State Correctional Institution/Rockview, in Centre County.
Stapp needs to file his motion for the insanity defense by December 3. He also said Huth may claim self-defense in the case.
Huth was arrested July 16 at the Schuylkill County Prison where he was serving time for a parole violation.
In the Fesig case, state police said a 14-year old boy saw a man riding a bicycle and then standing on Fesig’s porch at 10:15 p.m. July 4. That same bicycle, police claim, is what Huth used to leave the scene.
At the preliminary hearing, state police Trooper Jeffrey S. Sampson testified that a chemical reactant that causes blood spots to be illuminated was sprayed on Fesig’s yard, showing bloody footprints in both.
In addition, Huth’s wife, Jacqueline, told police her husband went for a bicycle ride around 9:40 p,m., the night of the killing, contradicting Huth, who during questioning said he stayed home all night.
Huth is also charged with simple assault, two counts of aggravated assault, theft by unlawful taking and possession of an instrument of crime.
A charge of burglary was dismissed because police could show no proof of forced entry.
___________________________________
From the Pottsville Republican, 16 July 1998:
Huth pleads guilty to slaying
Defendant’ sentence is maximum
Just 12 days before his trial, a Valley View man pleaded guilty Wednesday in the 1997 stabbing of a Hegins Township man and received the maximum prison sentence.
William J. Huth, 35, of 1335 W. Main Street, entered his guilty plea Wednesday to third-degree murder and possession an instrument of crime in the July 4 slaying of Ivan F. Fesig, 69, of Valley View.
Schuylkill County Judge Cyrus Palmer Dolbin sentenced Huth to 22 ½ to 45 years in in prison after the plea hearing. He received 20 to 40 years for the murder and 2 ½ to five years on the possession charge.
Charges of first- and second-degree murder, manslaughter, robbery, theft and aggravated assault were dismissed in the plea bargain.
Huth made the plea one day before 250 potential jurors were to appear at the courthouse to begin the selection process. Huth’s trial was scheduled to begin July 27.
First Assistant District Attorney Charles A. Bressi Jr. said the plea bargain was made because the best evidence the county had supported the third-degree murder charge.
“First-degree murder is very tough to prove because you have to show that it was planned and premeditated,” he said. “We had some evidence toward that, but we had no evidence that he took a weapon to the scene. The murder weapon was a large kitchen knife from Fesig’s home.”
Second-degree murder also would have been difficult to prove, Bressi said. Although there was circumstantial evidence pointing toward robbery – second-degree murder applies to one committed during another felony – there was no direct evidence of a robbery, such as missing money, he said.
Huth’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Michael J. O’Connor, said his client agreed to the plea bargain because the dropped first- and second-degree murder charged removed the possibility of the death penalty and life in prison.
“That was one of my main concerns,” O’Connor said of the plea offer that came from the District Attorney’s Office. “Having the death penalty and life in prison removed was one of the reasons we accepted this offer.”
During the hearing, Huth admitted to Dolbin that he killed Fesig with a knife during a robbery attempt, although he said he neither brought the knife nor intended to kill Fesig, according to Bressi.
According to state police, a 14-year-old boy saw a man riding a bicycle and then standing on the porch of Fesig’s 1664 W. Maple Street home at 10:15 p.m. Police claim Huth left the scene on that bicycle.
At Huth’s preliminary hearing, state police Trooper Jeffrey S. Sampson testified a chemical reactant was sprayed on Fesig’s and Huth’s yard. The chemical causes blood spots to be illuminated and revealed bloody footprints in each, according to Sampson.
Originally, Huth claimed to have been at home all that night, but his wife, Jacqueline, told police that her husband went for a bicycle ride about 9:40 p.m. the night of the killing.
Huth, who has been in solitary confinement for the past 10 months, had petitioned to court to move him into the county prison’s general population. O’Connor argued Huth was unable to grasp the concepts of his legal defense because of his confinement. No decision was made, but the petition was dropped Wednesday, as Huth will be transferred to a state prison.
_________________________________
From the Hazleton Standard-Speaker, 28 July 1998:
Huth wants to vacate guilty plea in slaying to stand trial.
William Huth, 35, of Valley View, is asking the Schuylkill County judge to vacate a guilty plea he entered on July 15 to a charge of third degree murder and possession of an instrument of crime and allow him to be tried before a jury.
Judge Cyrus Palmer Dolbin announced he will hold a hearing in the Schuylkill County Courts Thursday at 2 p.m.
Huth pleaded guilty on July 15 to a charge of third degree murder for the killing of Ivan F. Fesig, 68, also of Valley View, which happened on July 4, 1997, during an alleged robbery attempt n Fesig’s home. Huth was sentenced to serve 22 ½ years to 45 years in a state prison.
He is now claiming he is not guilty and that his plea was entered improvidently without his understanding the nature of the charge and now wants to be tried before a jury. He repeatedly answered “yes” to Judge Dolbin questions if he understood the proceedings.
Huth now claims he suffered from a bi-polar disorder and took medications for his problem. At his guilty plea, he told the judge he had not taken any medication in a 24-hour period which would impede his understanding of the proceedings.
Huth also again raised the question about his solitary confinement, stating he has been in solitary confinement since August 1997 and because of his confinement, his guilty plea was not entered voluntarily. At his guilty plea, he withdrew his petition to be taken out of solitary confinement and returned to the general population of the county prison. There had been a hearing on his complaint but the court never ruled.
__________________________________
From the Pottsville Republican, 31 December 1998:
[Year-end News Summary]
William J. Huth, 36, formerly of 1329 W. Main Street, Valley View, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in the stabbing death of Ivan F. Fesig, 68, of 1664 W. Maple Street, Valley View, on July 4, 1997.
Huth was sentenced to 22 ½ to 45 years in prison on the charge, but a week later, withdrew his plea, claiming he was under the influence of anti-psychotic drugs at the time of his guilty plea.
He later revoked that statement and agreed to let the plea stand. Huth is in the State Correctional Institution, Mahanoy.
__________________________________
News articles from Newspapers.com.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.