STROUDSBURG, Pa. (AP) — Prosecutors have rested their case against a former Pennsylvania pastor charged with killing his second wife.
Arthur Schirmer is charged in the 2008 death of Betty Schirmer. Prosecutors say he beat her with a crowbar or similar object. He claims she died in a car crash in the Poconos.
State police found Betty Schirmer's blood in the garage of the parsonage and say that's where Schirmer bludgeoned her, then loaded her into the car and staged a low-speed crash.
Sgt. Mark Holtsmaster testified Wednesday that Schirmer first told him no one had ever bled in the parsonage. He says the pastor later said his wife was injured moving a pile of wood.
Schirmer is charged separately in the 1999 death of his first wife, Jewel. He has pleaded not guilty in both cases.