On Christmas Eve, 2002, in Middletown Pennsylvania, Scott Wholaver, 28, drove his brother, Ernest Wholaver Jr., 42, to the home of his estranged wife and his 2 children. Ernest broke into the home and crept into the bedroom of Jean Wholaver, 43, and pulled out his .22 calibre pistol. He shot her in the head.
He left her room and crept into the bedrooms of each of his daughters, Elizabeth, 15, and Victoria, 20. He then shot each girl in the head, leaving only Victoria’s infant daughter, 9 month old Madison, alive.
Their bodies were not discovered until Christmas morning, Madison found unharmed near her mothers body. Ernest was the only suspect as he was about to be tried on rape charges. Police alleged that he had been molesting both his daughters for years.
Ernest was acquitted of the rape charges during the course of his murder trial, as all three of his witnesses were now dead. In 2004, he was found guilty of all three murders and given three consecutive death sentences. As of now, he remains on death row.
Scott Wholaver was sentenced to a 12 ½- to 25-year term in prison on three counts of third-degree murder. His most recent appeal was dismissed on January 11, 2018, and he remains in prison to this day.
