Youth recounts slaying of family
After he watched his father, Larry Bobish Sr., and pregnant sister, Krystal, get shot, 12-year-old Larry Bobish Jr. testified Thursday that he came face to face with their alleged assailant as he sat on the family’s living room couch and begged for his life. Mark D. Edwards Jr., testified Bobish, ignored his pleas in the early morning hours of April 14.
“He hit me and cut my throat. I told him to stop. I said I’d do anything if he would stop,” said the sixth grader, who spoke calmly and clearly during his time on the witness stand during a preliminary hearing for Edwards.
After the hearing, Edwards was ordered by District Justice Deberah Kula to stand trial for killing Larry Bobish Sr. and his wife, Joanna, their daughter, Krystal, and her unborn son.
Bobish testified he was awakened by sounds of his father and Edwards, 19, of Bierer Woods Acres in Uniontown arguing in the kitchen. Bobish testified he could not hear what they were saying. After about four minutes, Bobish said he saw Edwards bring out a small black handgun and shoot his father.
Bobish testified he looked down and heard a second shot before he saw Edwards head into the bedroom, where his mother, Joanna, was. The boy said he heard a shot in there and watched Edwards emerge to be confronted by his sister.
Edwards shot her twice, testified Bobish, and then came into the living room, where he was sitting on the couch. After Edwards hit and stabbed him, Bobish testified that Edwards shot him.
Putting his left hand in front of his left ear in a defensive-type move, Bobish testified that the bullet traveled through his hand and ear, and into his head.
But not even being shot in the head deterred the youngster, who said he continued trying to fend off Edwards.
“I started hitting him, like fighting back. After he hit me again, I just fell on the ground and I just laid there and pretended I was dead,” testified Bobish, who said Edwards covered him with a blanket up to eye level.
He testified he watched Edwards run around their 323 Kennedy St. Extension, North Union Township home, and at some point, blacked out.
“I woke up to smoke coming in my mouth,” he said, noting that his family home was ablaze.
Bobish said he walked out through a door and fell to the ground,
An off-duty state police corporal who was delivering papers with his son found the boy and called the fire in at 6:49 a.m.
On his way to the hospital, Bobish testified, he told paramedics, “Marky did this,” referring to Edwards, a man who had been to his house on several occasions as a friend of his sister’s.
At the request of District Attorney Nancy D. Vernon, Bobish stood and tilted his head to the right, revealing a long, jagged scar on the left side of his neck. He also said that he had scars on his back and hand as a result of the attack. Although he did not know how exactly it came to be, Bobish also showed a scar that extended from his lower right lip that came from his alleged scuffle with Edwards.
A coroner’s report read into evidence by Vernon listed Larry Sr.’s cause of death as a single gunshot to the chest, Joanna’s as a gunshot to the neck and Krystal’s as gunshots to the face and neck. The unborn baby died from a lack of oxygen. Both Vernon and Edwards’ attorney, David S. Shrager, stipulated to a coroner’s report that listed the unborn baby’s gestational age as 25-30 weeks.
Kula also bound over one count each of arson, attempted homicide, aggravated assault and burglary.
State police criminal investigator John Marshall testified that Edwards reportedly admitted to the killings after his April 18 arrest.
At first, testified Marshall, Edwards denied all involvement. Then, in a second statement, he admitted only to harming Larry Jr. But, testified Marshall, when confronted with Larry Jr.’s statement to police, Edwards admitted to killing Larry Sr. and Krystal as well.
Marshall testified that Edwards said he could not remember killing Joanna Bobish and told police, “I went crazy.”
The trooper, who is also a fire marshal, said Edwards admitted setting fire to the fringe of a blanket on the bed in the room of the Bobish parents.
Marshall also testified that Edwards told him and a friend went to the Bobish home on two days before the killings and robbed the Bobish parents of six bottles of “wet.” That is a form of liquid PCP and formaldehyde that traditional or marijuana cigarettes can be dipped into.
During those two days, Edwards reportedly told police that he both drank and did drugs, and fielded pages from the Bobishes, who wanted paid for the bottles of “wet.”
The morning the Bobishes were killed, Marshall testified that Edwards said he woke up around 5 a.m., and, talking to himself smoked two “wet”-laced cigarettes before walking to the Bobish home.
Edwards also reportedly told police he did not mean to shoot Krystal Bobish, and did see Larry Jr. escape from the home after he set the fire.
“He said he got a short distance from the house and turned around for some reason and saw LJ (Larry Jr.) come out of the door,” testified Marshall.
After the hearing, Vernon said she was pleased with Bobish’s testimony on the stand.
“He’s a brave little boy,” said Vernon, who declined to comment on where the youngest Bobish was staying in the wake of his parents’ deaths to ensure his safety.
Members of the Bobish family who attended the hearing left immediately afterwards and did not comment for reporters.
Although she said the death penalty is still being discussed, Vernon noted that, “If any case would warrant the death penalty, this one would.”
Shrager also paused to talk to reporters after the hearing, and said that he felt that the amount of evidence needed to take a case to court was “light,” compared to what jurors must weigh in a criminal trial.
He also said it was “irresponsible” to discuss defense strategies, but said that some things may need further explored in court.
Edwards, meanwhile, was taken back the Fayette County Prison, where he is being held without bond. His next court appearance will be at his official court arraignment in July, where prosecutors must decide if he indeed will face the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder.