File photo
Travis White

LEWISTOWN — A Lewistown man pleaded guilty Friday to the July 2015 murder of his estranged wife and her mother and was sentenced to life without parole in a state correctional institution.

Travis A. White, 37, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to two counts of second-degree murder and apologized for his actions related to the killing of Carol White and Floris Lewis.

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry to everybody. There’s nothing I could say to make this any better,” White told President Judge Dave Barron prior to his sentencing.

Mifflin County District Attorney Chris Torquato said White’s plea was unexpected, but ultimately the best possible outcome.

“We believe justice has been served and that he is receiving the punishment that he should … I didn’t expect there would be a plea, but as long as the result of this is life in jail, that’s all that matters.”

Torquato said White would have received the same sentence whether he had been found guilty of first- or second-degree murder at trial.

“The only difference is that it enables White to receive mental health treatment while serving his life sentence within a state correctional institution,” he said. “The entry of this plea brings this case to a conclusion and will serve to avoid lengthy appeals that may follow a trial. A guilty plea greatly limits a defendant’s grounds for appeal and prevents years of protracted appellate litigation.”

Torquato said the victims’ family has been consulted throughout the lengthy process, as well as the prosecuting officer, Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Mike Elder.

“The goal of the family, Trooper Elder and the Mifflin County District Attorney’s office was to see that justice has been done for the victims of the case, that the person responsible for crime is brought to justice and to ensure that he will never again have the opportunity to cause harm to anyone. This has been accomplished,” Torquato said.

White’s attorney, John A. Abom, of Abom & Kutulakis, provided a statement following the plea.

“Today, Travis White accepted responsibility for killing his wife and her mother. In accepting his plea of guilty but mentally ill to second-degree murder, the court recognizes the significant mental impairment that has afflicted Travis throughout his life and from which he was suffering at the time he took their lives.”

Prior to White’s sentencing, Abom read a statement from Dr. Susan Rushing, a neuropsychiatrist, based out of Haverford, who would have provided expert testimony if the case had gone to trial.

Abom said Rushing conducted a mental health evaluation on White.

In Rushing’s statement, she said she would have testified that after evaluating White and his history, he was found to have schizoaffective disorder — a rare mental disorder that was made worse by use of drugs such as heroin and cocaine, which she said contributed to his actions.

If Rushing were to testify, Abom read that she would say he was mentally ill, but would not argue that he was not guilty.

“I want to thank attorney Don Zagurskie, of Mifflin for his much-valued legal expertise as co-counsel, neuropsychiatrist Dr. Susan Rushing for her analysis and medical counsel, and the professionalism of the Pennsylvania State Police and district attorney’s office in investigating this case and discharging their duties. This plea agreement spared the commonwealth and the Lewis family years of protracted litigation in the Pennsylvania and federal courts,” Abom’s statement said.

White waived his right to a jury trial earlier this year and opted to proceed with a bench trial. The trial was scheduled to occur between Oct. 23 and 27.

As a condition of White’s waiving the jury trial, Torquato withdrew his notice to seek the death penalty for White.

Abom said in his statement that providing access to mental health care must be a priority and is a key to stopping violent crimes.

“Mental illness affects one in every five Americans — 40 million of our fellow citizens. My hope is that this case will illuminate the devastation untreated mental illness can wreak on society and on the lives of innocent people,” he wrote.

Abom also offered his condolences to the Lewis family.

“To the family members of Carol and Floris Lewis, may you find some measure of peace and closure in the resolution of this case,” he said.

White’s charges stem from an incident on July 13, 2015, where police discovered Carol White’s body outside of her Granville Township residence. Lewis was shot in her bed. Both sustained multiple gunshot wounds and their deaths were ruled homicides by Mifflin County Coroner Daniel Lynch.

According to court documents, police were initially called to the Fairway Place address after a neighbor reported seeing an individual with a gun.

Shortly thereafter, the same neighbor reported hearing three “pops” and looked across the road to see a person she believed to be Travis White.

Travis White was the estranged husband of Carol White, and the two were in the process of finalizing divorce proceedings when she and her mother were killed, court documents indicate.

Travis White, along with codefendant Jason Kuhns, was subsequently incarcerated on charges of receiving stolen property, which were filed against both of them after the discovery of several stolen rifles in a car being driven by Kuhns on the morning of the double homicide.

Travis White and Kuhns were both taken in to custody in the vicinity of the double homicide.

According to court documents, the guns are the property of Brent Stickler, whose residence in McAlevys Fort had been burglarized and had approximately 16 guns taken. Stickler told police he knows Travis White through Travis White’s mother, court documents indicate.

Police confirmed via serial numbers that the weapons seized from Travis White’s Jeep were the same guns taken from Stickler.

On the morning of the double homicide at the Fairway Place address, police observed what they believed to be blood on the ground in front of the garage door. A red Chrysler was parked in the driveway; a blue Chevrolet was parked in front of the Chrysler. The right side garage door was open and a dark blue Buick Lacrosse was parked inside with the driver’s door open, court documents indicate.

When police responded to the scene that morning, they stopped a blue-gray Jeep traveling northwest, away from the crime scene. Kuhns was driving the vehicle, which was registered to Travis White, court documents indicate.

Kuhns was taken into custody and a large number of firearms, a bottle of bleach, ammunition, bolt cutters and several other items were in plain view inside the vehicle. White was found a short distance from the scene walking west along Middle Road and was also taken into custody.

Kuhns was interviewed by police and related that he and White had gone to Harrisburg the previous evening in an attempt to sell the guns, but were unsuccessful. Kuhns stated White was driving a dark-colored car that morning, which was consistent with the blue Buick located at the crime scene, police said.