OK it looks like he was arraigned. Zandstra is scheduled for a pretrial conference Feb. 15 before Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony Scanlon.
Former minister accused in 1975 murder of 8-year-old girl formally arraigned
David Zandstra set for pretrial conference in Febraury
MEDIA COURTHOUSE – Accused child killer David Zandstra was formally arraigned on first-degree murder and related charges Wednesday for the 1975 beating death of 8-year-old Gretchen Harrington.
Zandstra, 83, a retired Marple Township minister extradited from Marietta, Georgia, is also charged with criminal homicide, murder in the second- and third-degree, kidnapping and possessing an instrument of crime.
Zandstra stood mute on the advice of defense counsel Mark Much and Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony Scanlon entered a plea of “not guilty” on his behalf, preserving his rights to file any motions.
Zandstra was held for court on all charges last month following a preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Walter A. Strohl.
Zandstra is accused of abducting Gretchen off the street en route to Bible school on the morning of Aug. 16, 1975, then taking her to Ridley Creek State Park, where he allegedly ordered her to take off her clothes before striking her in the head with his fist.
Zandstra allegedly admitted to the murder during an interview with Pennsylvania State Police in July and was extradited to Delaware County in September.
Strohl heard last month from the victim’s sister, Zoe Harrington, who was 11 years old when Gretchen went missing.
Harrington said that on that morning, Gretchen was supposed to walk to Trinity Chapel Christian Reformed Church at 140 Lawrence Road, less than a half-mile from their home on Laurence Road.
She said it was the only day that one of Gretchen’s siblings or parents did not walk with her. Her baby sister had been born that same week and it was a bit chaotic at the home, Zoe Harrington said.
Gretchen was last seen by neighbors walking at 9:20 a.m., according to an affidavit of probable cause for arrest written by troopers Andrew Martin and Eugene Tray.
District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer previously said students would begin classes about 9:30 a.m. at Trinity Chapel, where Zandstra served as minister from 1969 through 1976, then half would be transported at 10 a.m. to the Reformed Presbyterian Church at 144 Lawrence Road, where Gretchen’s father, Harold, served as the reverend.
Zoe Harrington said she realized her sister was missing when she noticed Gretchen was not outside with other students at her father’s church next door to their home, but she was unsure of the time. She said Gretchen was not with her best friend, one of Zandstra’s daughters. They began looking for her and Zoe Harrington asked Gretchen’s teacher where she was, but she said Gretchen never arrived.
Zoe Harrington also identified several pieces of clothing found with her sister’s remains when they were discovered by a jogger in the park on Oct. 14, 1975.
She said she had never gone to Zandstra’s home, but that he was a friend of the family and had presided over her sister’s funeral.
Retired state police captain and former chief of the Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division John McKenna also testified that he was called out to the state park after the jogger made the discovery.
McKenna noted the girl’s skull appeared to be fractured. He said Gretchen’s skeletal remains were covered by sticks and twigs, and that her blouse was neatly folded next to the body.
A pair of children’s panties was also found on a nearby tree branch, he said, and a pair of shoes was on the ground nearby. Zoe Harrington identified the blouse as one her mother had made.
Martin testified that he was assigned the case in 2014, but caught a break after a witness came forward in 2022 and described being molested by Zandstra at a sleepover around the time of Gretchen’s disappearance.
Martin said he conducted a taped interview with Zandstra in Georgia on July 17 and the suspect admitted to the murder.
“He (said he) picked Gretchen up walking along a road, drove her to a wooded area, told her to remove her clothing, he struck her in the head with his fist, she fell, she died, he covered the body with branches and drove back to …Trinity Chapel Church,” Martin said.
Martin said a medical examiner’s report indicated Gretchen had been killed by two blunt-force impacts to the right side of her skull, which would have caused life-threatening trauma.
The defense’s contention
On cross-examination by Much, Martin admitted that he told Zandstra he had evidence against him that was not actually in his possession, including that a witness had seen Zandstra’s Dodge Rambler approaching Gretchen that day and that police had recovered rocks with blood on them.
“They believe he admitted to something that I submit he didn’t do,” Much said after last month’s hearing. “(Martin) lied to him about evidence that he says he had. He tricked an 83-year-old man into thinking he did something that he didn’t remember doing by him telling him he had all this evidence against him that he didn’t have.”
Much indicated Wednesday he would seek to suppress those statements.
Deputy District Attorney Geoff Paine said last month that Zandstra’s alleged admission came not because he was tricked or confused into providing one, but after he was accused of molesting another victim.
He added that the investigation is ongoing and that other victims of a sexual assault nature have come forward since Zandstra was charged in Gretchen’s murder, including those inside and outside of Delaware County.
No additional charges have been filed as yet. Zandstra is scheduled for a pretrial conference Feb. 15 before Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony Scanlon. He remains in custody at the county jail in Concord without bail.
Retired minister David Zandstra’s next court date is Feb. 15. New details: Others have allegedly come forward with details of sexual abuse and the defense attorney will seek to suppress any c…
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