The other day I happened to check the logs and saw that someone had viewed the post on Dennis Terry Sites several times and that there were referrals from Google. It didn’t take much mental effort to figure out that someone had probably looked up his name on the search engine and had landed on … Continue reading Checking the Logs
MIST
Afterword
Afterword Every once in a while since I’ve moved to Philadelphia, someone that I knew from Richland or other Eastern Lebanon County community will ask if I’m not afraid of the supposedly high crime and murder rate of the big bad city, and I usually point back to the Carrie Layser murder as an example … Continue reading Afterword
Epilogue
Epilogue It should not surprise anyone that Dennis Terry Sites probably served the minimum or not much more than the minimum sentence, in other words ten years minus the three he had already served. The reports of his time in the county jail showed that he was a model prisoner, and if he continued in … Continue reading Epilogue
Chapter 19 – Mistrial?
Chapter 19 - Mistrial? Saturday December 7, 1968 - Friday February 21, 1969 After deliberating for a total of eight hours over two days, the jury in the second trial of Dennis Terry Sites for the beating death of Carrie Batdorff Layser had just informed the judge that they were not making any progress. On … Continue reading Chapter 19 – Mistrial?
Chapter 18 – The Second Trial
Chapter 18 - The Second Trial Saturday November 30, 1968 - Saturday December 7, 1968 As the December 1968 court term for Lebanon County approached, history was about to be made: two murder trials were about to be conducted simultaneously, one for Dennis Terry Sites and the other for Antonio Morales. For potential jurors this … Continue reading Chapter 18 – The Second Trial
Chapter 17 – Enter Meyer
Chapter 17 - Enter Meyer Thursday November 16, 1967 - Tuesday October 15, 1968 By Thursday November 16, 1967, plans were underway to retry Dennis Terry Sites for the murder of Carrie Batdorff Layser as required by the decision of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. District Attorney Alvin B. Lewis Jr. had considered, but rejected as … Continue reading Chapter 17 – Enter Meyer
Chapter 16 – Appeal
Chapter 16 - Appeal Thursday February 9, 1967 - Tuesday November 14, 1967 There was little news to report for several months regarding Dennis Terry Sites or his appeal. Until February 9, 1967, when during the weekly session of the county commissioners, it was revealed that the county treasurer would be disbursing $1000 to each of … Continue reading Chapter 16 – Appeal
Chapter 15 – Verdict
Chapter 15 - Verdict Monday September 26, 1966 - Wednesday September 28, 1966 There are few specifics that I recall about the whole sad saga of the Carrie Layser beating death and the subsequent trial of Dennis Terry Sites, but one of them is turning on the radio when I came home from school on … Continue reading Chapter 15 – Verdict
Chapter 14 – Closing Arguments
Chapter 14 - Closing Arguments Monday September 26, 1966 The article in the September 26 edition of the Lebanon Daily News was the first one about the Carrie Layser murder where James Shellhamer received a byline, although I assume that he wrote all or nearly all of them. The Daily News was a bit stingy … Continue reading Chapter 14 – Closing Arguments
Chapter 13 – Stymied
Chapter 13 - Stymied Friday September 23, 1966 Defense witnesses called on Friday's session included Sheriff Claude Hartman; Richard P. Sneeder, York, a private investigator hired by the defense to talk to some of the witnesses in the case; Gerald Lengel, Richland; Ronald Weidman, and John Shanfelder, Newmansiown, who had been drinking with Sites prior … Continue reading Chapter 13 – Stymied