By Seamus McGraw

Lancaster County , PA  (Crime Library) —David Ludwig,

the 18-year-old Lancaster man accused of gunning down his underage girlfriend's parents and then fleeing across three states before being captured, will face the death penalty when he goes on trial next year, the Lancaster County District Attorney said Friday.

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Ludwig, who already is facing two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the November 14 slayings of Michael and Catherine Borden, both 50, will also face charges of statutory sexual assault against 14-year-old Kara Borden. The two had been involved in sexual relationship authorities have said, and it was the elder Borden's objections to that relationship that triggered the bloody showdown in their Lititz home, authorities have said.

In addition, prosecutors have also have also charged a friend of Ludwig's, 19-year-old Samuel Lohr, with one count of criminal trespass and two firearms violation for his part in a film the pair made in which they allegedly plotted to conduct a midnight raid on another house on the community. There is no indication, authorities have said, that the film was linked in any way to the Borden slayings.

District Attorney Donald Totaro announced his plans to seek the death penalty in a statement delivered Friday morning, just moments after Ludwig made a preliminary appearance in the Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas.

The young man made no comment during this brief proceeding, other than to tell the court that he had no questions about the charges against him. He is expected to make a formal plea at his arraignment on Jan. 25, 2006.

Authorities had hinted in the weeks leading up to Friday's announcement that they may seek the death penalty in the case, which received national media attention in the days immediately following the slayings. 

But it is no means certain that the case will get that far. Pennsylvania
juries are notoriously reluctant to recommend death, and the state is even
more reluctant to execute the sentence. What's more, many in the community
have said they are torn over whether Ludwig should face death if convicted,
raising the possibility that the District Attorney may have trouble seating
a death-qualified jury in the county. Instead, sources close to the case
have speculated that the move may be designed to pressure Ludwig to plead
guilty in exchange for a life sentence.

The prosecutor, in his statement Friday, also effectively sought to end
speculation about Kara's role in the slaying.

"In a statement to investigators, David Ludwig specifically noted there was
never any agreement between him and Kara Borden to shoot or kill her
 parents," Totaro wrote. "With regard to Kara's role in the shooting, Ludwig
stated 'that was not condoned by her. I had mentioned it to her as a
possibility to get away, she did not give me a yes or no on whether she
thought that was a good idea. That was all my doing, that was not anything
on her at all'."

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