Suspect won’t face death penalty in Peters Township’s teen killing
The 18-year-old man accused of killing his teenage girlfriend and then allegedly stashing her body away in her SUV with the help of his mom will not face the possibility of the death penalty if convicted.
Royce Joel Moser appeared Tuesday morning in the Washington County Courthouse for his formal arraignment on homicide charges in the Aug. 19 stabbing of Karoline Heintz in her SUV while the couple was parked outside his North Strabane home.
Moser and his 56-year-old mother, Rachel Moser, appeared together before President Judge Valarie Costanzo and both pleaded not guilty in the case. Rachel Moser, 56, of Beallsville, is accused of helping her son clean up the SUV, attempt to dispose of evidence used in the killing and assisting him as he allegedly drove Heintz’s vehicle with her body in the back cargo compartment before ditching it in the parking lot outside the California Area Public Library.
Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh said following the formal arraignment that he would not pursue the death penalty against Royce Moser because the circumstances surrounding the killing did not rise to the level of aggravating factors for a capital crime.
Heintz, 18, had just left her family’s home in Peters Township about 9:30 p.m. Aug. 19 when Royce Moser asked her to come over to his house at 229 William Drive in North Strabane to talk, state police said. The couple sat in the car speaking before Moser told investigators Heintz said something that upset him, prompting him to ask her to wait in the SUV while he went into the house because he had “something” for her, according to court documents.
When Moser returned, he allegedly stabbed Heintz in the chest as she sat in the driver’s seat, police said. She fell out of the vehicle and Moser placed her body in the hatchback area before driving to his mother’s home in Beallsville, where the two attempted to clean up the evidence, according to court documents.
A tracking device that Heintz’s family had in her SUV helped them locate her vehicle at the off-campus parking lot in California, where she was scheduled to begin her freshman year at PennWest University. Her family alerted authorities, who went to the parking lot and found her body in the back compartment.
Moser and her mother were arrested hours later, and police found the knife allegedly used in the stabbing discarded in a trash bag at the Beallsville house, according to court documents.
In addition to homicide, Royce Moser is facing charges of obstruction of justice and two counts each of evidence tampering and abuse of a corpse. He is being held without bond at the Washington County jail while he awaits his trial. His attorney, Jake Mihalov, declined comment.
Rachel Moser is facing charges of hindering apprehension, criminal use of a communications facility, obstruction of justice and two counts each of evidence tampering and abuse of a corpse. She is also jailed without bond while awaiting trial.