A father charged with sexually molesting his two daughters was ordered to stand trial in the Christmas Eve murders of the two young women and their mother after his brother, who said he was with him the night of the crime, agreed to plead guilty and testified against him.
After hearing the testimony of Scott Wholaver, the brother of the defendant, District Justice David Judy said there was enough evidence shown to send Ernest Wholaver to trial for the murders of his estranged wife and two daughters.
Dauphin County’s Chief Deputy District Attorney Fran Chardo says he believes Wholaver killed his family because he wanted to eliminate the witnesses against him in a pending trial in which he was accused of molesting his daughters, 15-year-old Elizabeth and 20-year-old Victoria Wholaver. “We have the greatest of motives and compelling circumstantial evidence.”
The girls had been living with their mother, 43 year old Jean Wholaver, in their Middletown home at the time of the brutal killings. Found unharmed the day after, was Victoria Wholaver’s 9-month-old daughter, Madison. The infant was found laying by her mother’s side and crying.
Testimony on Wednesday included the Middletown police sergeant who found the bodies after he was dispatched to check the home Christmas morning; a co-worker of Jean Wholaver’s who said the usually punctual Harrisburg Hospital staffer did not show up December 24; and Scott Wholaver, who described how his brother had threatened the life of his estranged wife two months earlier.
28 year old Scott Wholaver testified after striking a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to third-degree murder and burglary charges for driving his brother 100 miles from Scott’s home to Jean’s home on the night of the killings. If he pleads guilty as planned, Scott Wholaver would serve a sentence of 12 1/2 to 25 years in prison.
Scott Wholaver’s court-appointed attorney, Justin McShane, describes his client as a man who had been dominated and verbally abused by his brother and who feels “extreme remorse” for the fate of his brother’s wife and daughters. “Just to say that he feels remorse would be an understatement of biblical proportions.”
Scott Wholaver, slumped and kneading a white handkerchief as he spoke, testified about an October conversation with his brother in which Ernest, upset over divorce proceedings, had threatened to shoot his estranged wife. Speaking in a halting, barely audible voice, he also told about the pair’s cross-state voyage in the early morning hours of December 24 after his brother said he wanted to get his puppy trom Jean Wholaver’s home.
After driving the 110 miles from their parents’ home in Saint Benedict, Dec 27, 2002 where the both brothers had been living, Ernest Wholaver donned dark clothes, a hunting mask and two pairs of gloves, and slipped out of the brothers’ truck parked a block from the home, Scott Wholaver testified.
Scott said Ernest returned five or 10 minutes later in a “shaking, nervous” state.
During his testimony, Scott said he recalled Ernest saying “Drive, drive, drive.” At one point on the trip back, he recalled seeing what looked like a shotgun on the back seat, but it disappeared after the brothers made a stop along a stretch of woods, he testified.
42 year old Ernest Wholaver is charged with three counts of murder in addition to other crimes, including burglary, and is currently being held in Dauphin County Prison without bail. In the sexual assault case, he had been free on $100,000 bail and was ordered to stay away from the family’s Middletown home, but after the murders her was ordered back behind bars before being charged.
Wholaver’s attorney, Spero T. Lappas, insisted that prosecutors had not proven their case and had no physical evidence to tie his client to the crime scene. Investigators relied on the “patently ridiculous and absurd” story told by Scott Wholaver that his client was near the home on Christmas Eve. “The case is thin to the point of being nonexistent.” Prosecutors will determine later whether to pursue the death penalty against Wholaver, who is scheduled to be arraigned April 17.
If you’re looking for professionally aggressive representation, contact The McShane Firm today and put Harrisburg’s most highly-trained attorneys in your corner. WE FIGHT!
Our Clients are entitled to a Bill of Rights which states:
- Our clients have the right to expect, we will be proactive in communication. You will hear it from us first. We will return all phone calls, texts and emails promptly.
- Our clients have the right to expect plain speaking, straight shooting. No B. S.
- Our clients have the right to expect us to do it right the first time, every time.
- Our clients have the right to expect us to be on time and professionally prepared for all court appearances, and all meetings.
- Our clients have the right to expect that they will be fully informed at all times.
This is our promise to you. Call today to get us on your side: (717) 657-3900.
