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“Uh-huh,” Ed replied.
“I explained to you and I read you that form that says you have
the right to remain silent, and whatnot. You remember that?
Do you understand?”
Ed stared at the investigator momentarily before shaking his head
no.
“You do not?” the investigator asked.
“You understand that stuff you say can be held against
you—about what went on today. Do you understand that?”
How do you mean?” “Well, things that you say could be
held against you in a court of law. You understand that?”
“Yeah, and religion,” Ed responded.
“…law and religion. And you have the right to an
attorney. You understand what an attorney is?”
“Yeah.” “…so you understand that?”
“Yeah, but in our religion we will not have done that.” Ed
said.
“We have to go by the law and the law says I have to tell you
this. Do you understand?”
“No.”
“You have the right to an attorney; you understand that?”
“Yeah. What I’m thinking, my mind is confused, I’m
going to tell you that right now, but the reason we don’t use the
number, the Social Security number…because of the beat, the beats
somewhere, the computer…in fact, we feel we can track our minds.”
Ed was obviously confused and was having a hard time focusing his mind
as the interrogation continued.
“Ok, but let’s get back on track and back on track is that you
understand what I have explained to you on that piece of paper.”
“Yeah.”
“I explained that you do not have to talk to me if you don’t
want to…and you understand that?”
“Yeah.”
“Ok…I want to try and understand this…exactly what happened,
why you killed Katie…”
“…for some reason, I think we could still save her,” Ed said.
“No, we cannot save her. Katie is dead and you know Katie
is dead.” The investigator replied.
“Yeah, I know. Why did I kill her? I felt it was a
gain.”
“A gain for who?”
“A gain for us people,” Ed replied.
“All the people?”
“Yeah, not just my religion.”
“Why?” “Because, if I can get back on track, it will
come yet.”
“Maybe you can explain to me why you felt that you had to remove
Katie’s brain and work your way from the brain down. Explain
that to me.”
“You know how we, the human being were made?”
“Yes,” the investigator replied. “From the top down.”
“That’s right. I had it in my mind that if I worked from
the top down…” Ed paused and then said, “I’m so lost, I
don’t know what to say.”
The remainder of the interrogation lasted for approximately an
hour, during which Ed tried his best to describe the murder and his
problems prior to the murder. Most of his statements were
bizarre and incomprehensible. Regardless of how it turned out,
the investigators were happy and considered the case closed. Ed
was taken to the Crawford County Jail around two in the morning and
placed in a holding cell.
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| Meadville jail building (David Lohr) |
Following an autopsy, Katie’s remains were delivered to Ed’s
father’s house. Normally an Amish wake is held at the
deceased’s residence, however due to the circumstances surrounding
Katie’s death, it was decided that her wake would be held at Ed’s
father’s house.
While the men saw to the digging of Katie’s grave, her mother and
sisters took it upon themselves to wash and prepare Katie’s body.
Rather than dress her in her wedding gown, Katie’s body was wrapped
in black linen and placed in a pine coffin. The coffin was then
bridged across two chairs for the eventual viewing the following day.
As preparations for Katie’s funeral were taking place, Ed was
moved from the jail to a state mental hospital in North Warren,
Pennsylvania, for a psychiatric evaluation. During the move, Ed
suspected that the officers were taking him to the woods to shoot him,
and argued with them briefly before finally agreeing to cooperate.
Just 41 hours after Katie’s death, Amish mourners from Ontario,
eastern Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York and Indiana, began to arrive at
the elder Gingerich’s farm. Over 200 friends and family
members gathered to offer their condolences and pay their respects.
The sermon at Ed’s father’s, led by Bishop Shetler, lasted for
approximately 45 minutes. There were no flowers. The tone
was hopeful, yet full of admonition for the living. There was no
eulogy and respect for Katie, not praise, was expressed.
Following the sermon, Katie’s casket was loaded into an Amish buggy
and transported to the Grabhof (Amish cemetery), down the road from
the Gingerich farm. After her coffin was lowered into the ground by
felt straps, a hymn was spoken but not sung, prior to filling in the
burial hole by hand. In the end, fresh dirt and a simple
tombstone1 marked her grave.
Following the burial, everyone gathered back at the elder
Gingerich’s farm for a funeral dinner. That evening, at the
request of Danny Gingerich, Katie and Ed’s families gathered in the
living room at Ed’s house. The horror which Danny had
witnessed was eating him up inside and he had to get it off his chest.
As everyone gathered around, Danny recounted the events that had
transpired in the house just days earlier. Danny felt terrible
about leaving Katie and the children behind to seek help and he wanted
everyone to understand why. Danny told those in attendance that
just prior to running out of the house, he saw a figure next to Ed,
which terrified him.
“What did you see?” someone asked.
“He was standing right next to Ed,” Danny replied. “In
the flesh. I saw him…Satan. The devil himself, standing
right there next to Ed. He came out of Ed and stood there.
I was scared. I ran for my life.”
Following Danny’s statement, no one spoke and everyone remained
quite for a long period before finally leaving Ed’s house.
****
1 In death as in life, the Amish are all considered equal and all
tombstones resemble one another.
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