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On the
morning of March 25, 2005 John Charles Eichinger drove to the
Greaves’ residence. Eichinger told police that he intended to kill
Heather Greaves unless she ended her relationship with her most
recent boyfriend. To this end, Eichinger arranged to meet with
Heather so that she would be expecting him at her house that day.
Eichinger worked with Heather Greaves at an Acme market in King of
Prussia, Pa., before being transferred to a store near his home.
Heather Greaves had told a neighbor she was expecting Eichinger to
visit with flowers for her upcoming birthday, but considered him
only a friend and did not want the kind of romantic relationship he
sought, a police affidavit said. Eichinger carried a large knife and
a pair of rubber gloves in his waistband and concealed them under
his sweat jacket. Eichinger went into the house to speak with
Heather. An argument ensued and Eichinger pulled out the knife and
stabbed her repeatedly in the stomach. Eichinger admitted that he
purposefully stabbed Heather in the stomach, because he "had heard
in movies and books that it was easier to puncture organs there than
through the chest, where it is more difficult because of hitting
bone.” Avery, Heather’s three-year-old daughter, was in the room and
witnessed the stabbing. When Heather cried to Avery to call 911,
Eichinger turned away from Heather and slashed Avery in the neck.
Avery ran down the hallway before she fell. Eichinger followed her
and came upon Lisa, Heather’s sister coming out of the bathroom.
Eichinger confessed to police, “I had to stab Lisa, too. I couldn’t
go to jail.” Lisa tried to run back into the bathroom and shut the
door, but Eichinger was able to overpower her. He stabbed Lisa
repeatedly in the stomach. Eichinger moved back towards the kitchen
where Heather was dying, but not before he stabbed Avery once more,
in the back. He stabbed her with such force that the blade came out
her chest, and pinned her to the floor. Eichinger admitted to police
that, “I couldn’t even let the three-year old identify me. I had
known her since she was born and she knew my name. She could speak
my name.” Back in the kitchen, Eichinger stabbed Heather in the
diaphragm and slit her throat. Eichinger went to the sink to wash
his hands and noticed he was cut. He used one of the rubber gloves
to prevent his blood from being left at the crime scene. Before
leaving, Eichinger cut open Lisa’s shirt to make it appear that she
had been the target of the rampage in order to confuse the police.
Heather and Lisa’s father discovered the murders later that day. The
police spoke to a neighbor who had witnessed Eichinger leaving the
Greaves’ home that morning. Upon receiving this information,
Detective Richard Nilsen, a Montgomery County Detective, along with
Detective James Godby of the Upper Merion Police Department, went to
the Somers Point, New Jersey Acme Food Market where Eichinger was
employed. Eichinger agreed to be interviewed. After some discussion,
and a false statement to the police, Eichinger confessed to the
Greaves murders. During the same conversation, Eichinger also
confessed that he used the knife from the Greaves’ murders to kill
another woman, Jennifer Still, on July 6, 1999. Eichinger admitted
to police that he killed Jennifer because she rejected him in order
to stay with her fiancé. Eichinger described this murder: I had the
knife in my hand. I turned away from her for a second and couldn’t
believe she was doing that to me. She got real close to me. I
thought, ‘You’re ripping my heart out and now you’re getting close
to me.’ She put her hand on my shoulder. I turned around and stabbed
her in the stomach. After I stabbed her the first time, she stepped
back, but didn’t fall. Her blood splattered out at me. I lunged at
her. I just kept stabbing her. I slit her throat as she slid down
the wall. I let her body weight cut her throat against the knife.
Eichinger saved his clothes from that day, and collected articles
about the murder to serve as reminders. After using the knife to
kill Jennifer in 1999, he stored it in a sheath in a cooler.
Eichinger told police, “I had it in the cooler with the rubber
gloves and the Scream mask. Every Halloween I put the mask, gloves,
and knife on and handed out candy at the door.” As a result of his
confessions, Eichinger was arrested and later transported back to
Montgomery County. In transit, Eichinger made another incriminating
statement describing the triple-homicide as well as the earlier
murder of Jennifer Still to the police. This statement was later
memorialized in writing. Eichinger filed an omnibus pre-trial motion
seeking to suppress his statements to the police. This motion was
denied. Eichinger and Detective Nilsen then testified at a pre-trial
hearing on September 15, 2005. The trial judge found Detective
Nilsen’s testimony to be credible and found that all of the
statements made by Eichinger to the police were admissible at trial.
Eichinger waived his right to a jury in favor of a guilt-phase bench
trial which was held on October 18, 2005. Eichinger did not contest
the charges against him and offered no defense, rather he stipulated
to the evidence offered by the Commonwealth at the September 15th
Pre-Trial Hearing. Eichinger was adjudicated guilty of all charges,
and the Commonwealth sought the penalty of death for the murders of
Heather Greaves, Lisa Greaves and Avery Johnson. The sentencing
phase was tried before a jury beginning on November 1, 2005.
Although he did not contest his guilt, Eichinger did contest the
imposition of the death penalty. The jury found two aggravating
factors in the death of Heather Greaves: that Eichinger had been
convicted of another state offense for which a sentence of life
imprisonment is imposable and that Eichinger had been convicted of
another murder which was committed before or at the time of the
offense at issue. The first aggravating factor related to the murder
of Jennifer Still six years earlier. The second related to the
murder of Lisa Greaves and Avery Johnson which was contemporaneous
with the murder of Heather Greaves. The jury then found the same two
aggravators for the murder of Lisa Greaves plus a third aggravating
factor, that the victim was a witness to a murder and was killed to
prevent her testimony in any criminal proceeding concerning the
offense. The jury also found the same three aggravating factors they
found for Lisa Greaves for the murder of Avery Johnson, plus a
fourth aggravating factor, that Avery Johnson was a child less than
twelve years of age. The jury determined that there was one
mitigating factor for each of these three murders, namely that
Eichinger was under the influence of extreme mental or emotional
disturbance. Finding that the weight of the aggravating factors was
greater than the weight of the mitigating factor in each case, the
jury returned a verdict of death for the murders of Heather, Lisa
and Avery. District Attorney Bruce Castor said Jennifer Still and
the Greaves were part of a wide circle of friends, and during the
investigation, detectives realized that they were talking to the
same people they talked to when Still was killed. In 1999, Still's
mother told a local TV news station that her daughter had been
involved in a circle of friends who practiced Wicca. Castor said
that the Greaves sisters, Still and Eichinger were involved in the
role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons. The families of Eichinger's
victims were allowed to confront the killer before he was sentenced
to death. "In my assessment of this horrendous tragedy perpetrated
by John Charles Eichinger, there is no justice that can satisfy me
short of his termination and no restoration that can replace what
was lost," said George Greaves, whose daughters, Lisa and Heather,
and granddaughter, Avery Johnson, were stabbed to death by Eichinger
on Good Friday. Unfortunately, Greaves said, Eichinger is more
likely to remain behind bars for many years before the death
sentence is actually carried out. "However, I do look forward to the
justice promised by the Lord Almighty where the wicked and evil
emissaries of Satan such as John Charles Eichinger will receive
payment for their acts with eternal, unrelenting torment in hell,"
Greaves added. Wendy Lavin, whose 20-year-old daughter, Jennifer
Louise Still, was stabbed to death by Eichinger, in 1999, said
Eichinger should never be allowed to live in society again. "He
deserves the death penalty. No amount of time spent in prison could
ever make up for the agony and suffering he caused Jennifer. He is a
violent man who has no regard for life and no respect for the law,"
said Lavin, of Mont Clare, the co-founder of the Montgomery County
Chapter of Parents of Murdered Children. Montgomery County Judge
William R. Carpenter imposed three consecutive death sentences and a
life prison sentence on Eichinger for the four killings. The judge
also sentenced Eichinger to a consecutive, maximum possible sentence
of eight to 16 years in prison on charges of possessing an
instrument of crime and lying to authorities. The consecutive jail
time will make it more difficult for a future governor to ever
commute Eichinger's death sentences. "You took the lives of four
innocent persons for no reason. You are, simply stated, an evil
person," Carpenter told Eichinger, who showed no reaction as he was
led from the courtroom in handcuffs by sheriff's deputies, headed to
death row. Eichinger, who at the time was 33-year-old former
supermarket employee from Somers Point, N.J., did not address the
judge or the families of the murdered women when offered the chance
to speak before his punishment was imposed. Assistant District
Attorney Carolyn Flannery, who assisted Castor with the prosecution,
asked the judge to impose the maximum possible sentence against
Eichinger because "he is so purely evil that there is no doubt he
deserves to die" and to serve justice to the dead and their
families. "It's important to show how seriously we take these
crimes, that they are so heinous, so brutal," said Flannery,
referring to the need for the maximum sentence. Eichinger, who was
represented by defense lawyer William McElroy, stared blankly and
did not react when relatives of the dead women angrily lashed out at
him in court, forcing him to look at photographs of the three women
and Avery during happier times. "How could you kill little Avery,
John?" Meredith Gardner Moffatt, a friend to the Greaves sisters,
confronted Eichinger. "Was it because she could speak your name? You
are a baby-killer and by anyone's definition, a baby-killer is the
lowest of the low. In hell, John, there is no mercy from God
forever!" Several friends of the victims, weeping uncontrollably,
called Eichinger "a monster." Friends described Lisa as "a feisty
princess" and a "strong-minded individual with a big heart" who was
studying to be a registered nurse. Heather, friends testified,
"always had a smile and a pleasant demeanor and a great sense of
humor." George Greaves, whose nightmare began when he returned to
his Kingwood Road home after work and found the blood-covered bodies
of his two daughters and granddaughter, testified he will miss
"those little hugs of love" he received daily from Avery. Greaves
said he agonizes about the day when he will have to explain to
Avery's half-sister, 6-year-old Melody, what happened to Heather and
Avery. "As she gets older the day yet awaits when I will have to
reveal to her the true horrific details of the deaths of her mother,
her aunt and her sister," said Greaves, his voice quivering with
emotion. "It will be another day of many tears for both of us."
Saying she agonized for six years before finding out who murdered
her only child, Lavin described Jennifer as a "loving, caring, kind
and considerate person" who loved musicals and poetry. "My daughter
was a very bright, independent young woman. We will never know what
she could have made of her life. She was robbed of that opportunity,
her life cut cruelly short," Lavin told the judge. |
