Man Convicted In Mother-In-Law's Killing

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. -- A Lancaster County man has been convicted of killing his mother-in-law.

Shannon Hess killed Barbara Fritchman in his Pequea Township home in November 2007, a day after Thanksgiving. It was the first murder ever in the small town.

Hess thought his wife was having an affair and killed his mother-in-law for being on the phone with the other man, police said.

Hess could be sentenced to life in prison.

Court papers indicated that Hess stabbed Fritchman multiple times and struck her, possibly with a crowbar.

"We would say at this time that it was a blunt object. If you read the affidavit, you also see that the victim was stabbed repeatedly in the neck and that the cause of death was from the stabbing, and it punctured the carotid artery," said Southern Regional Police Department Chief John Fiorill at a 2007 news conference.

Police said they found Fritchman dead, face down in a pool of blood in a hallway at a house on Boehms Road around 1:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 23. Hess was the person who called 911, police said. Investigators said he washed blood from his hands and shoes before officers arrived. They also said Hess lied to investigators and repeatedly changed his story.

Fritchman lived with Hess, her daughter and her grandchildren.

Court papers indicated that Hess believed his wife was having an affair. The documents state that he was spying on her, but was concerned his mother-in-law would tell his wife.

Just before Fritchman's death, court documents stated that Hess said he heard Fritchman on the phone with the man he believed his wife was seeing.

In one of the police interviews, police said they asked Hess if he would like to apologize to Fritchman. He replied, "I would like to."

You can read the complete affidavit of probable cause here. Please note that the link connects to a PDF file. If you cannot view it, you may need to download Adobe Reader. For a free version of Adobe, click here.