By  Seamus McGraw

(Continued)

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Keeffe handled arcane cases with grace and a sense of fair play

A skilled trial lawyer, Keeffe helped the firm expand its trial practice throughout the state and into the federal courts. Most of his work in the federal court system in Pennsylvania and western New York involved complex and often arcane tort actions. But according to lawyers who knew Keeffe, he always approached the cases with grace and carried them through with a sense of fair play and there is, according to some who knew the couple, little indication that Keeffe spent much of his time dealing with obviously dangerous litigants, or that he had personally made enemies through his work.

It was, however, apparently a lucrative practice, including on its roster of associates the Keeffes' daughter, Melissa, and her husband, Matthew Jones.

At the time of their deaths, according to published reports citing court documents filed in Towanda, Pa., David and Carol Keeffe left an estate estimated at more than $6.7 million, including their portion of the mountaintop compound, shared with relatives, where they were found slain last month.

According to the reports, Melissa Keeffe and her brother, David Michael Keeffe, have been named co-executors of their father's $5 million estate, while Melissa is responsible for handling her mother's $1.786 million legacy.

While such formidable wealth may have been unusual in the remote corner of northern Pennsylvania where the Keeffes lived, there is, according to several locals, little evidence that the Keeffes flaunted their success, nor is there any evidence that their killer or killers may have targeted them because of it.

There was, according to some familiar with the probe, no sign of forced entry at the couple's home, nor any indication that they had been robbed before they were killed.

In the weeks since, authorities have kept a tight lid on all information about the case, though they confirm that they have received a number of tips and continue to solicit more in the hopes of solving what officially remains a mystery.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Athens Township Police Department at (570) 888-2200, the Pennsylvania State Police at (570) 265-2186, or Crime Stoppers at (888) 4PA-TIPS.

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