Pa. man gets life for killing ex at church service
Jul 17, 2013, 12:52 PM
COUDERSPORT, Pa. (AP) – A northern Pennsylvania man who fatally shot his ex-wife while she played the organ at a Sunday church service has been sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Fifty-three-year-old Gregory Eldred, of Coudersport, apologized Tuesday and told a Potter County judge he was acting “irrationally” at the time.
Eldred pleaded guilty last week to first-degree murder for shooting 53-year-old Darlene Sitler on Dec. 2 at the First United Presbyterian Church of Coudersport. The church is about 140 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.
Eldred was an elementary school music teacher, and Sitler taught music at the Northern Potter Children’s School.
Parishioners and the pastor came to Sitler’s aid, but no one else was hurt in the shooting. Eldred surrendered outside the church when police arrived.
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