Josef Raszler, the Lower Macungie Township man accused of using a homemade air rifle and bullet to kill his neighbor after she ended their brief romance, will not be allowed to present evidence his attorney said implicates a man charged in another murder.
Defense attorney Philip Lauer argued in April that Michael Horvath, charged in the 2013 kidnapping and murder of his coworker, Holly Grim, could be Stephanie Roof’s killer. He said jurors should hear about similarities between the cases, including the discovery of homemade firearms among Horvath’s belongings, a diary of his alleged stalking and that Horvath, Grim, Roof and Raszler all worked at the Allen Organ Co. in Macungie, although not at the same time.
Judge James T. Anthony on Thursday issued a one-line order denying Lauer’s motion to present that evidence. In a hearing Tuesday, Anthony granted Lauer’s request to push back Raszler’s trial, which was set to begin Aug. 23. The trial is now scheduled for Nov. 1, and Lauer said he will likely use the time to request an appeal of Anthony’s decision.
State police say Raszler, 40, gunned down Roof, a 46-year-old mother of four, in the driveway of her Pinecrest Lane home on Sept. 13, 2016, using an air gun he had fashioned from PVC and copper pipes. The shooting came more than a year after Roof ended her relationship with Raszler, prompting him to send barrages of text messages until Roof threatened to call the police.
Investigators found parts of a homemade air gun in Raszler’s basement and chunks of lead that matched the slug that struck and killed Roof. They also found that Raszler had made multiple internet searches for information about air-powered weapons.
Lauer argued in April that jurors should hear the evidence about Horvath, arguing that it was relevant to Roof’s killing.
First Assistant District Attorney Steve Luksa presented testimony from state police that Horvath’s homemade weapons would not fire the kind of bullet that killed Roof and that all of the women in Horvath’s “stalker diaries” had been identified and Roof was not among them. There is no evidence that Horvath knew Raszler or Roof, prosecutors said.
Lauer said Tuesday, that in “one of the most wonderful things that has happened” to him as a defense attorney, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled two days after the April hearing that criminal defendants should be free to introduce evidence of a third party’s culpability in a crime if it is relevant and does not cause unfair prejudice, confuse or mislead the jury or cause delay.
Lauer said he is now considering a request to appeal Anthony’s decision in Superior Court. Because Raszler is still facing trial, he would need permission from the court to appeal. Raszler has been held without bail in the county jail since his arrest in April 2017.
Horvath has been held in the Monroe County jail since his arrest in October 2016. Police say Horvath kidnapped Grim from her trailer in the Red Maples Mobile Home Park on Nov. 22, 2013, and took her to his Ross Township home, where he killed her and disposed of her remains. Police found evidence that Horvath was stalking Grim. Her skeletal remains were found in a shallow grave at the rear of Horvath’s property.
Morning Call reporter Peter Hall can be reached at 610-820-6581 or peter.hall@mcall.com.
