Guy murdered at the gun range I go to

[marko138]

A homicide investigation is under way at the State Game Land range I go to. Sorta scary.

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2010/07/homicide_victim_was_avid_gun_e.html


The victim of yesterday's homicide in North Middleton Township was an avid gun enthusiast with an expertise in hand-loading ammunition, said Cumberland County District Attorney David Freed. Todd Getgen, 42, of Enola, was found dead just after 2 yesterday afternoon at a Pennsylvania Game Commission rifle range off of state route 944 in North Middleton Township.


A cause of death was to be determined at an autopsy this morning, but Freed said Getgen had multiple gunshot wounds. No weapon was found at the scene, but Freed said investigators are working with the assumption that Getgen had gone to the range to shoot one or more of his weapons. A list of weapons Getgen had permits for has been compiled and is being compared to what weapons are at his home. “He likely took a weapon with him to the range,” said Freed. “But we need to confirm that.”

Freed said he was aware of Getgen's expertise with ammunition from having reviewed an application Getgen made for a suppressor, or silencer. That application requires a lengthy explanation of why the suppressor is being sought.

A Clinton County native, Getgen was a military veteran who paid his way through Penn State University and Dickinson School of Law after leaving the service, said Charles E. Schmidt Jr., a senior partner at the personal injury firm where Getgen had worked. He left the firm in mid-June in what Schmidt described as a "mutual parting."

Outside the office, Getgen was a man who loved the outdoors and spending time with his wife, Stella, and son, Ethan, Schmidt said.
"He was a gun enthusiast," Schmidt. "He would talk about weaponry. He was an expert on firearms, bullet calibers. He was very much interested in that. It's an irony that's what led to his death."

Police do not know if Getgen's death was related to a recent gun theft at the same range. Freed said that incident happened within the past month, but he did not have further details.

At this point, the investigation is open, Freed said. Because they do not have a suspect, or even a scenario, investigators are looking at all possibilities, including whether or not Getgen may have been killed by someone he knew.
Investigators are examining his personal and financial records and Getgen's wife has given police his computer. Freed said they hope e-mails or other information found on the computer will help retrace Getgen's steps in recent days. “It is important to learn as much about the victim as you can,” said Freed. “In this day and age, often their computer tells you a lot about that.”

Freed said investigators will also talk to Game Commission officials to cross-reference any other incidents at range, which is on state game lands in a wooded and thinly populated section of the county's northern reaches.
North Middleton Township police Det. Timothy D. Lively said not a lot had changed in the investigation overnight.

Like Freed, police are awaiting the results of the autopsy, which could tell them a lot of information, including the number of times Getgen was shot, the type of ammunition or weapon used, and the range from which he was shot.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 717-243-7910.

[the chi]

Holy crap.

[pauldun170]

Personal injury lawyer?
Dead?


Please scuse me while I put my OMG card back in the drawer.

[askmrjesus]

Now that's a smart murderer.

Why risk the extra charge of firing a weapon within the city limits, when you can just plug the fucker at the gun range?

JC

[Avatard]

Personal injury lawyer?
Dead?


Please scuse me while I put my OMG card back in the drawer.

Sounds like it might just be a justified shooting. :shrug:

[Homeslice]

Freed said he was aware of Getgen's expertise with ammunition from having reviewed an application Getgen made for a suppressor, or silencer. That application requires a lengthy explanation of why the suppressor is being sought.
Just curious, what possible reason could someone use to justify having a silencer? Unless maybe you want to bag multiple game without scaring them off. Even then, most animals could still hear it quite easily. :idk:

[Avatard]

Just curious, what possible reason could someone use to justify having a silencer?

Hunting wabbits. You have to be vewy, vewy quiet.

[Amber Lamps]

Just curious, what possible reason could someone use to justify having a silencer? Unless maybe you want to bag multiple game without scaring them off. Even then, most animals could still hear it quite easily. :idk:

Justify? Justify? Bearing arms is our constitutional right, buddy! :lol:

[askmrjesus]

Just curious, what possible reason could someone use to justify having a silencer?

Consideration for your neighbors.

JC

[Amber Lamps]

Consideration for your neighbors.

JC

apparently so you can be murdered quietly leaving no clues....

[askmrjesus]

apparently so you can be murdered quietly leaving no clues....

Why don't you go misunderstand someone else's posts?

JC

[Homeslice]

Well I don't hunt, but wouldn't hunters want to know if another hunter's around?

[pauldun170]

Well I don't hunt, but wouldn't hunters want to know if another hunter's around?

Silencers don't really "silence"
Hunter will know.

[Captain Morgan]

Some gun enthusiastes want silencers just for the sake of having a one. I knew a guy that had one sitting on display inside a glass coffee table. :shrug:

[marko138]

Now that's a smart murderer.

Why risk the extra charge of firing a weapon within the city limits, when you can just plug the fucker at the gun range?

JC
For sure. Very smart. And it's sparsely populated around there. Double win...or loss in this case.

[Avatard]

One less lawyer? That's a win.

[marko138]

One less lawyer? That's a win.
Former Marine who paid his own way through law school. Husband and father.

[Avatard]

Dammit, stop stepping on my punchlines with actual fucking compassion.

[Amorok]

A lot of guys have silencers just as a curiosity the same as a rare gun. One guy I know uses one so he can practice without wearing hearing protection. I can't imagine spending that much money for the sake of convenience but to each his own.

[racedoll]

Holy crap. I'll be interested to hear how this turns out.

[pauldun170]

Former Marine who paid his own way through law school. Husband and father.

...and ambulance chaser

[Adeptus_Minor]

Consideration for your neighbors.

JC

If I remember correctly, in England (among those who are able to own firearms), suppressors are indeed considered a courtesy.

[Dragonpaco]

If I remember correctly, in England (among those who are able to own firearms), suppressors are indeed considered a courtesy.

finland too

[Papa_Complex]

A lot of guys have silencers just as a curiosity the same as a rare gun. One guy I know uses one so he can practice without wearing hearing protection. I can't imagine spending that much money for the sake of convenience but to each his own.

Considering they somewhat reduce accuracy and muzzle velocity, and are most effectively used with low velocity cold loads for suppression, I'd rather just wear the hearing protection.

[marko138]

DA says the victim appears to be missing an AR-15 rifle. Not much new info at yesterday afternoon's press conference. But he was shot from a distance, down range, multiple times.

So, one could draw conclusions that he may have been checking targets, left his rifle at the firing line (as required by PA law) and was possibly robbed and murdered.

[z06boy]

DA says the victim appears to be missing an AR-15 rifle. Not much new info at yesterday afternoon's press conference. But he was shot from a distance, down range, multiple times.

So, one could draw conclusions that he may have been checking targets, left his rifle at the firing line (as required by PA law) and was possibly robbed and murdered.

Just dayum...I'm definitely interested in how this one turns out...hopefully they'll catch the person(s) responsible.

[Papa_Complex]

DA says the victim appears to be missing an AR-15 rifle. Not much new info at yesterday afternoon's press conference. But he was shot from a distance, down range, multiple times.

So, one could draw conclusions that he may have been checking targets, left his rifle at the firing line (as required by PA law) and was possibly robbed and murdered.

I was thinking that he was selling a weapon to someone who wanted to test fire it at the range, and did.

[Adeptus_Minor]

Considering they somewhat reduce accuracy and muzzle velocity,

Where'd you hear that?
You're correct about them being coupled with subsonic loads for maximum noise reduction, but considering they are used on long range sniper rifles, I don't think it's fair to say that they "reduce accuracy". Most suppressors do change the PoI (point of impact), but they do so in a predictable manner. Group size shouldn't be affected.

[Amber Lamps]

Why don't you go misunderstand someone else's posts?

JC

"I'm not misunderstanding"... That's a legitimate reason to want a suppressor. You could shoot/ hunt on your property without disturbing your neighbors. Absolutely.:idk: That's not what you meant?

['73 H1 Triple]

DA says the victim appears to be missing an AR-15 rifle. Not much new info at yesterday afternoon's press conference. But he was shot from a distance, down range, multiple times.

So, one could draw conclusions that he may have been checking targets, left his rifle at the firing line (as required by PA law) and was possibly robbed and murdered.

Premediated :td:

Back in the early 80s, the public range at Nockamixon was getting a lot of use from "undesirables" from Phila. When ever we went shooting it was with a minimum of three shooters. Two shot at the targets and the other kept his firearm loaded at all times and stayed at the bench.

[marko138]

UPDATE:

Police have arrest 2 people. Both Corrections officers at the Camp Hill State Prison. Sick fuckers.

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2010/08/suspect_in_shooting_death_of_e.html

The man charged in the death of an Enola lawyer told police he had been stealing guns for an unidentified organization in an effort to overthrow the U.S. government, according to the Cumberland County district attorney.

Raymond Franklin Peake, 64, of Hampden Township, refused to name the group but said he would kill to defend his country, authorities said.

North Middleton Township police arrested Peake on charges of homicide, robbery, aggravated assault and conspiracy in the July 21 killing of Todd Getgen, 42, at a Pennsylvania Game Commission shooting range in the township.

Peake told police that he found Getgen dead at the rifle range and then took his rifle, authorities said.

Cumberland County District Attorney David Freed said Sunday that he had no additional information on Peake’s possible involvement with any attempt to overthrow the government. Freed said that Peake remained in Cumberland County Prison on Sunday night.



Raymond Franklin Peake was arrested on charges of homicide, robbery, aggravated assault and conspiracy in the July 21 killing of Todd Getgen.
Police also arrested Thomas Franklin Tuso, 34, of Duncannon, on charges of theft, receiving stolen property and conspiracy in connection with the storage of Peake’s stolen rifles at his home in Perry County, Freed said. He said Tuso was free on $100,000 bail.

The men, who worked as corrections officers at the Camp Hill state prison, are to have preliminary hearings Aug. 9 before District Judge Paula Correal.
Freed said Getgen was shot several times with a gun he didn’t own. A vacationing federal park ranger taking target practice found Getgen’s body, Freed added.

A North Middleton Township police spokesman said Sunday that after Getgen’s body was found, people at the range reported seeing a man drive away in a vehicle with a military license plate. He said that police had several composite renditions made of the suspect.
Susan McNaughton, a state Department of Corrections spokeswoman, said the men have been suspended without pay.

Joseph N. Gothie, a spokesman for Stella Getgen, Todd Getgen’s widow, called this “an extremely difficult time” for her and Ethan Getgen, the victim’s 6-year-old son.

“Due process will take its course,” said Gothie, who graduated from The Dickinson School of Law with Todd Getgen in 1997. “The suspect is entitled to the presumption of innocence. The due process Todd never got will be afforded to the defendants, and the courts will do their job professionally. Stella is very happy there’s been an arrest.”

[z06boy]

Well GD...what ignorant scumbags. I sure hope when they go to prison that their fellow prisoners know of their past/profession.

[Gas Man]

There are some big holes in those stories...

[marko138]

There are some big holes in those stories...
As they say, "the investigation is on-going..."

[goof2]

I remember being at Capitol City Mall while Camp Hill State Prison was burning from riots. Good times in central Pennsylvania.:lol:

[marko138]

I remember being at Capitol City Mall while Camp Hill State Prison was burning from riots. Good times in central Pennsylvania.:lol:
No shit. You from around here?

[goof2]

No shit. You from around here?

Not from there but I lived in Camp Hill for 5 years growing up. It was from about 1985-1990 or so.

[marko138]

Not from there but I lived in Camp Hill for 5 years growing up. It was from about 1985-1990 or so.
Hmm...no shit. I'm 5 minutes from Camp Hill.

[goof2]

Hmm...no shit. I'm 5 minutes from Camp Hill.

Cool. I knew you were in the Harrisburg area but didn't know which part. I was out at the edge of Camp Hill close to Hampden Township. It was far enough out that I went to Cumberland Valley High School instead of Camp Hill (the one year I was there for high school). It wasn't a bad place to grow up.

[marko138]

Cool. I knew you were in the Harrisburg area but didn't know which part. I was out at the edge of Camp Hill close to Hampden Township. It was far enough out that I went to Cumberland Valley High School instead of Camp Hill (the one year I was there for high school). It wasn't a bad place to grow up.
Not a bad area at all. I'm in East Penn Twp.

[goof2]

Not a bad area at all. I'm in East Penn Twp.

Yep, I was only a couple miles from there. Enjoy the roads. We don't have anything like them here.:td:

[marko138]

Yep, I was only a couple miles from there. Enjoy the roads. We don't have anything like them here.:td:
I run 74 a lot from Carlisle. 849 is a favorite too up in Duncannon.

[goof2]

I run 74 a lot from Carlisle. 849 is a favorite too up in Duncannon.

Its been so long since I spent any significant time there I don't remember road names, I just remember lots of elevation changes and turns. Those are mythical things that are not native to the part of Florida where I am.

[OneSickPsycho]

Its been so long since I spent any significant time there I don't remember road names, I just remember lots of elevation changes and turns. Those are mythical things that are not native to the part of Florida where I am.

You mean there are those things in ANY part of Florida?

[goof2]

You mean there are those things in ANY part of Florida?

Probably not, but I haven't seen enough of it to make a definative statement about the whole state.:lol: