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LEWISTOWN – Homicide and other related charges against two local men were bound over to court for trial Tuesday following a preliminary hearing presided over by Magisterial District Judge Jack Miller.
Travis A. White and Jason M. Kuhns are both charged in connection with the deaths of White’s estranged wife, Carol D. White, 44, and her mother, 81-year old Floris C. Lewis. The two women were found in the early morning hours of July 13, 2015, shot to death at 164 Fairway Place.
Kuhns remains incarcerated in the Centre County Prison, while White is being held at the Mifflin County Correctional Facility.
Mifflin County District Attorney Chris Torquato said he has not made any decision as to whether his office will seek the death penalty in either case.
Kuhns’ attorney, Steve Snook, attempted to have the case against his client thrown out, based on the lack of any testimony linking his client to the scene of the double homicide in the form of DNA evidence, but he was unsuccessful. Likewise, White’s attorney, Don Zagurskie, was unsuccessful in persuading Miller to dismiss several charges against his client.
Tuesday’s hearing began with the testimony of pathologist Harry Kamerow, who said “the cause of death was a gun shot wound to the head, and the manner of death was homicide,” for both victims.
Granville Township Police Sergeant Martin Bubb testified he had been dispatched to the scene of the homicide and took Kuhns into custody near the intersection of Fairway Place and Middle Road.
Bubb said the Jeep Kuhns was driving had several guns in the back seat. According to court documents, the guns in question were traced to a burglary in Huntingdon County. Both defendants are awaiting trial in that case as well.
Bubb testified that after placing Kuhns in custody he went to 164 Fairway Place, to search the exterior of the residence and knock on the door. According to court documents, a neighbor had called police reporting Travis White had been seen on the property at 164 Fairway Place with a rifle, and the neighbor had heard several gun shots, after which Bubb and other law enforcement arrived in the area to investigate the incident.
Bubb said nobody answered the door when he knocked and the garage door, as well as the door from the house to the garage, were open, along with the driver’s side door of the Buick parked in the garage.
Bubb testified he requested assistance from other officers and then proceeded to continue his search of the exterior of the property, where he discovered Carol White’s body.
“She appeared to have been shot in the face it appeared her body had been dragged from the front of the residence to the back,” he said.
Bubb stated that shortly thereafter Cpl. Rob Haines from the Mifflin County Regional Police Department arrived and the two of them cleared the house and discovered Lewis’s body in a back bedroom.
“From what I saw of the scene it appeared she had been shot in the face,” he said.
Granville Township Police Department officer Thomas Wilson testified he took White into custody along Middle Road, near the Fairway Place address, on the morning of the homicides and said the defendant was wearing blue jeans and hiking boots, but no shirt.
Wilson transported White back to the intersection of Middle Road and Fairway Place. White allegedly made several statements while Wilson was present, court documents indicate.
Wilson testified that White wanted to know if his wife was hurt or dead, and he knows she is dead because he saw the ambulance leave with no lights.
“He said he would offer $1 million to capture whoever killed his wife,” Wilson said.
When White was asked by police how he got to the area, he claimed he was walking to his wife’s house and that Kuhns had stolen his jeep a couple days prior. White explained that Kuhns contacted him and they agreed to meet at his home along Ferguson Valley Road. White went on to state that Kuhns did not show up and he decided to walk to his wife’s house to obtain a ride. White said he and his wife were separated, but were trying to work things out and were seeing each other almost daily. White was informed by police of the death of his wife and mother-in-law, he then requested an attorney and police terminated the interview, court documents indicate.
Police said that through further investigation it was determined that White was not permitted at the residence at Fairway Place and his wife had inquired about obtaining a trespass notice against her husband.
Torquato said that on June 24, 2015, a trespass notice was issued to Travis White.
Last to testify on Tuesday was Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Michael Elder, who is the lead investigator on the case.
On Aug. 12, Elder met with Joshua E. Dunlap, who was at the time incarcerated in the Centre County Prison and was Kuhns’ cellmate. Dunlap told police Kuhns had been talking about the homicides with him and admitted that he knew White was going to kill his estranged wife and mother-in-law on the morning of July 13.
Elder also testified about the results of forensic testing conducted on a variety of things found at the scene of the homicides, including a rifle, t-shirt and cell phone.
Elder testified that the Buick Lacrosse located on the property was processed for evidence. The Buick’s trunk contained a Ruger 1022 rifle with scope, cell phone, a green tee-shirt with WV logo and several other items. Some of these items, including the rifle and tee-shirt, had what appeared to be blood on them, court documents indicate.
Surveillance footage from a Rite Aid store on Union Deposit Road in Harrisburg, taken the night before the homicides, showed White wearing the same tee-shirt found in the Buick, police said. In addition, surveillance footage from that same night at the Wal-Mart store along U.S. Highway 522 South in Lewistown also showed White wearing the same tee-shirt.
According to court documents, White and Kuhns had gone to Harrisburg to sell the stolen guns from the Huntingdon County burglary.
Elder said Lewis’ DNA was located on the barrel of the gun and on the green tee-shirt. White’s DNA was also on the tee-shirt and the trigger guard of the gun contained a mixture of DNA from both Travis and Carol White.
Elder also said the phone lines had been cut and numerous dresser drawers and closets had been rummaged through at the scene. There was an area where items of money and lock boxes were placed near the front door of the home.
White and Kuhns remain incarcerated. Dates for their formal arraignment and trial are not yet scheduled.