A former Middletown man who authorities say is a suspect in the slayings of his wife and daughters was arrested last night by fugitive recovery agents fearful that he would skip bail on a pending sexual assault case.
Ernest Wholaver, 42, has not been charged in the Dec. 24 slayings of his wife, Jean, and their daughters, 15-year-old Elizabeth and 20-year-old Victoria. Authorities have said he is “a suspect.”
At the time of the killings, Wholayer was free on $100,000 bail, pending trial on charges that he sexually assaulted both his daughters. He posted bail in July through Miller Bail Bonds.
Wholaver was arrested by two fugitive recovery agents working for Miller Bail Bonds at a home near Altoona around 7 p.m. yesterday. He was shackled and arrived in Harrisburg at 10:10 p.m., sources said. He said nothing upon entering the police station.
Wholaver denied committing the killings, sources said.
Police have interviewed Ernest Wholaver and call him a suspect in the slayings, but said they also are exploring other avenues, which they will not discuss. They have said the investigation is complex and will take time.
His arrest came four days after Connie Miller of Miller Bail Bonds had applied for a “bail piece,” which allows her to get out of her bond obligation in the sexual assault case.
The application states that Miller’s reason for the request was “fear of flight,” but it does not elaborate. Bail bondsmen sometimes apply for fear-offlight bail pieces when they are worried their clients may flee, leaving the bondsmen liable for the money.
The order signed by Dauphin County Court Judge John F. Cherry gave Miller and Fugitive Recovery Agent Sonni Koontz the authorization to “apprehend and detain whenever and wherever he may be found, and bring said defendant before the court without unnecessary delay.”
Wholaver will be given the opportunity to post bail another way. If he cannot make bail, he will be held in Dauphin County Prison pending trial on the sex charges.
Wholaver’s attorney, Spero T. Lappas, called the bail piece unnecessary. Lappas said Wholaver, who has lived in the Johnstown area since he was ordered to stay away from his daughters and from the family’s Middletown home, is “absolutely not” a flight risk.
“He has faithfully appeared at every single court proceeding he has been required to attend, and there is no reason to believe he would not continue to do so,” Lappas said.
Dauphin County District Attorney Edward M. Marsico Jr. did not want to discuss Miller’s move in any detail.
“That’s a process initiated by the bail bondsman,” he said. “We have no involvement in that process.”
The daughters and their mother were found dead in their home Christmas morning, after police were contacted by relatives in the Johnstown area who were worried when they had not arrived for holiday celebrations as expected.
Each was killed by a gunshot wound to the head.
Wholaver had been scheduled to stand trial in Dauphin County Court on the molestation charges this month, but that could be delayed. The charges were brought in July, when the girls came forward to allege years of rape or other abuse at his hands.
Marsico has said that despite the deaths of Victoria and Elizabeth Wholaver, his office was exploring ways to continue the prosecution of their father on the sex charges.
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