On 22 March 1979, Helen E. Horn, a widow, returned home from an evening meeting of the Gratz Historical Society. Within minutes of entering her house, she was on her dining room floor – naked and dead in a pool of blood. Although someone was charged with her murder, at trial, he was acquitted. The crime was never solved.
This post is one of 19 chronicling the discovery of the body, the arrest and trial of the suspect, and his acquittal. The story is told through articles that appeared in a Pottsville newspaper.
From the Pottsville Republican, 18 September 1979:
Rank trial jury selection starts
By SUE BOOKS
HARRISBURG – Jury selection was under way today in the trial of Gary W. Rank, suspect in the murder of Helen E. Horn of Gratz.
If the selection of the jury is completed, the trial of Mrs. Horn’s 18-year-old neighbor was to begin today in the Dauphin County Courthouse.
Rank was arrested April 24, 1979, by state police here in connection with the slaying of Mrs. Horn March 22, 1979.
The body of the 68-year-old woman was found in the home the morning of March 23 by her cleaning woman. According to the autopsy report, she died of strangulation and multiple skull fractures.
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For all other parts of this story, see: Who Killed Helen Horn?
News clipping/article from Newspapers.com.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.