By David Lohr
(Continued)
On March 18, 1993, Mary, 3, and her brother Danny, 5, stood by helplessly as their father beat their mother Katie, 29, so severely that her brain spilled out on the floor. Afterwards, Gingerich undressed her and used a steak knife to make a seven-inch incision in her lower abdomen. He then reached his hand up inside her body cavity and removed her lungs, kidneys, stomach, liver, spleen, bladder, uterus, and heart. He stacked the organs in a pile next to her body and stuck the knife into the top of the pile. When he was finished, he threw his Bible into the fireplace and led the children outside, where he was later arrested.
During the spring of 1995, a jury of his peers found Gingerich guilty of "involuntary manslaughter but mentally ill." He was sentenced to a minimum term of two and one-half years and a maximum of five with credit for time served. Gingerich was denied his first bid for parole in December 1995; however, on March 19, 1998, at the age of thirty-four and having served his full sentence, he was released from the State Correctional Institution in Cambridge Springs, PA.
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| Joseph Gingerich |
Following his release, Gingerich moved to Harmony Haven in Evart, MI, a community for troubled Amish people. He remained there until December of last year, when he moved back to Pennsylvania. Upon his return, he rented a house with two of his sons and got a job working at his brother's sawmill. According to court documents, Gingerich is seeing a therapist to help treat his behavioral problems.
The three charges against Gingerich are third-degree felonies. If convicted on all counts, Gingerich could be sentenced to up to 21 years in jail and fined $45,000. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for May 1.
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