February 11, 2009 5:55 PM
- Text
Pa. School Gunman Was Haunted By Past
(CBS/AP)
A man who laid siege to a one-room Amish schoolhouse, killing five girls, told his wife by cell phone shortly before opening fire that he had molested two young relatives decades ago and was tormented by "dreams of molesting again," authorities said Tuesday.
Charles Carl Roberts IV, 32, appeared to have plans to molest children at the small Amish school, but police have no evidence that he actually did, State Police Commissioner Jeffrey B. Miller said.
Roberts had sexual lubricant with him and plastic handcuffs that he had bought seven days earlier, and he chained the girls together in a line at the blackboard and barricade the doors after sending the boys and adults away, Miller said.
Roberts also had weapons and supplies indicating he was prepared for a long stand-off, Miller said.
"He states in his suicide note that he had dreams about doing what he did 20 years ago again," Miller said.
Police could not immediately confirm Roberts' claim about molesting young relatives when Roberts would have been a just a child himself, Miller said, and he said Roberts' family members knew nothing of molestation in his past.
Roberts left behind notes for his wife and three children that also talked about his anguish over the loss of the couple's newborn daughter, Elise, in 1997, Miller said.
"I don't know how you put up with me all those years," the note reads. "I am not worthy of you, you are the perfect wife you deserve so much better. We had so many good memories together as well as the tragedy with Elise. It changed my life forever I haven't been the same since it affected me in a way I never felt possible. I am filled with so much hate, hate toward myself hate towards God and unimaginable emptyness it seems like everytime we do something fun I think about how Elise wasn't here to share it with us and I go right back to anger."
The note went on to allude to another reason for his anger, said Miller, "but he can't discuss it with her and it happened 20 years ago."
When Roberts spoke with his wife by cell phone from inside the school at 10:50 a.m. Monday, he had been there for at least half an hour and he told her then that he had molested young relatives two decades earlier, Miller said.
Shortly after police reached the school, they heard gunfire. The young Amish girls had been shot "execution style" and the gunman was dead in the nation's third deadly school shooting in less than a week.
Miller identified the victims as Naomi Rose Ebersole, 7; Anna Mae Stoltzfus, 12; Marian Fisher, 13; Mary Liz Miller, 8; and her sister Lina Miller, 7.
Local midwife Rita Rhoads helped deliver most of the girls, reports CBS News national correspondent Byron Pitts. She remembers Naomi Rose Ebersole, whose parents adored her.
"Their daughter that died was their only daughter. They were a family of boys and I remember that when a girl was born, they were just so tickled they'd finally gotten a girl. And now she's gone," Rhoads said.
The Amish don't take photographs, reports Pitts, but parents are likely to keep a set of clothing, some toys and a lock of their daughters' hair as keepsakes.
Five other children remained hospitalized Tuesday, four of them in critical condition. State police spokeswoman Linette Quinn said the survivors were "coming along very well."
"I don't believe there was any sort of malice toward the Amish necessarily," Miller said on CBS News' The Early Show. "I think he sought out a target of opportunity where he had female victims that were young in age, between the ages of 6 and 13, and I think that was really the focus, a place he could get into and out of."
Charles Carl Roberts IV, 32, appeared to have plans to molest children at the small Amish school, but police have no evidence that he actually did, State Police Commissioner Jeffrey B. Miller said.
Roberts had sexual lubricant with him and plastic handcuffs that he had bought seven days earlier, and he chained the girls together in a line at the blackboard and barricade the doors after sending the boys and adults away, Miller said.
Roberts also had weapons and supplies indicating he was prepared for a long stand-off, Miller said.
"He states in his suicide note that he had dreams about doing what he did 20 years ago again," Miller said.
Police could not immediately confirm Roberts' claim about molesting young relatives when Roberts would have been a just a child himself, Miller said, and he said Roberts' family members knew nothing of molestation in his past.
Roberts left behind notes for his wife and three children that also talked about his anguish over the loss of the couple's newborn daughter, Elise, in 1997, Miller said.
(CBS)
The note went on to allude to another reason for his anger, said Miller, "but he can't discuss it with her and it happened 20 years ago."
When Roberts spoke with his wife by cell phone from inside the school at 10:50 a.m. Monday, he had been there for at least half an hour and he told her then that he had molested young relatives two decades earlier, Miller said.
Shortly after police reached the school, they heard gunfire. The young Amish girls had been shot "execution style" and the gunman was dead in the nation's third deadly school shooting in less than a week.
Miller identified the victims as Naomi Rose Ebersole, 7; Anna Mae Stoltzfus, 12; Marian Fisher, 13; Mary Liz Miller, 8; and her sister Lina Miller, 7.
Local midwife Rita Rhoads helped deliver most of the girls, reports CBS News national correspondent Byron Pitts. She remembers Naomi Rose Ebersole, whose parents adored her.
"Their daughter that died was their only daughter. They were a family of boys and I remember that when a girl was born, they were just so tickled they'd finally gotten a girl. And now she's gone," Rhoads said.
The Amish don't take photographs, reports Pitts, but parents are likely to keep a set of clothing, some toys and a lock of their daughters' hair as keepsakes.
Five other children remained hospitalized Tuesday, four of them in critical condition. State police spokeswoman Linette Quinn said the survivors were "coming along very well."
"I don't believe there was any sort of malice toward the Amish necessarily," Miller said on CBS News' The Early Show. "I think he sought out a target of opportunity where he had female victims that were young in age, between the ages of 6 and 13, and I think that was really the focus, a place he could get into and out of."
- 1
- 2
- Next Page »
Latest Now in National
- Squatters cite old law to claim homes
- Whitney Houston always remembered in her hometown
- Whitney Houston cause of death under investigation
- Whitney Houston's body moved from hotel
- Induced labor allows dying Texas man see daughter
- Induced labor allows dying Texas man see daughter
- Former Pa. DEP chief on contaminated water from gas drilling
- Whitney Houston's daughter taken in ambulance
- NJ man who shot off-duty officer must pay $5.9M
- Autopsy on Whitney Houston to begin Sunday
- Experts: Stanford's trial not won with 1 witness
- Drillers cut natural gas production as prices drop
- Man charged in plot to kill Utah governor
- Nature: Bobcats riding out the snow
- US seeks to mine social media to predict future
- RI player wins $336 million Powerball jackpot
- How the revolution became digitized
Latest CBS News Headlines
on Facebook Most Discussed Stories
on CBS News
- Search resumes at recycling center in Powell case
- Zambia celebrates as team wins African Cup
- Mickelson snags 40th PGA win at Pebble Beach
- A mix of leather, mesh, and African prints at Edun
on Facebook Most Discussed Stories
on CBS News
