Murder suspect arrested over domestic dispute one month before his wife was shot

A month before Louise Weis-Edmonds was shot dead in her North Strabane home in March 2014, allegedly by her husband, police were called to a domestic dispute at the couple’s apartment, where she was found with fresh bite marks on her arm and her mobile phone smashed on the floor.

Keith Hutter, a retired North Strabane police sergeant, testified Friday during the third day of Scott Edmonds’ murder trial at the Washington County Courthouse that he drove to the couple’s home at 117 Victoria Drive on Feb. 22, 2014, and found Weis-Edmonds injured, with her cellphone damaged and broken jewelry scattered on the floor.

Hutter said both Weis-Edmonds and Edmonds were drunk and arguing about the time she spent away from home caring for her sick parents. That’s when Hutter noticed the bite marks on her arm and scratches on her right hand.

“I felt uncomfortable leaving her in that apartment,” Hutter said.

Police asked about any weapons in the house and Weis-Edmonds surrendered a handgun. However, a .380 caliber pistol was apparently also in the apartment, unbeknownst to officers.

Edmonds was charged with the domestic dispute and ordered to complete an anger management course after his preliminary hearing. Hutter said Edmonds never completed the course because Weis-Edmonds was shot in the back of the head the following month, on March 25, 2014. Township police charged Edmonds with manslaughter and evidence tampering in connection with her death. He has been held without bail in the Washington County Jail since then while awaiting trial.

When Edmonds’ defense attorney Mark Adams asked during cross-examination whether Hutter had ever been called to the couple’s home before the family dispute in February 2014, the retired sergeant said yes.

“Many times,” Hutter replied.

In her forward, First Assistant District Attorney Leslie Mylan asked how many times Hutter had been called there and for what reasons, to which Adams objected and asked for a side note. This led to a long meeting in Judge John DiSalle’s office to discuss the issue, and when they returned, Mylan announced that the prosecution had dropped its charges.

Edmonds claims his wife died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the back of the head. However, a toxicologist hired by prosecutors said this is unlikely because Weis-Edmonds was heavily intoxicated at the time of her death. Dr. Frederick Fochtman testified that her blood alcohol level of 0.411% at the time of her death – more than five times the legal limit for driving – means she was either in a coma or had “a loss of motor function” when she was shot.

“She must have been significantly impaired by alcohol, most likely unconscious,” Fochtman said. “If she had not been unconscious, she would have been confused and disoriented. … She would not have been able to inflict the gunshot wound on herself.”

Under cross-examination by Adams, Fochtman acknowledged that the high blood alcohol level did not necessarily indicate a chronic alcoholic. The defense hired its own toxicologist, Dr. Lawrence Guzzardi, who testified later in the day that despite Weis-Edmonds’ “very high level” of intoxication, he may have still been competent enough to pull the trigger of a gun.

Guzzardi acknowledged that most people would be nearly unconscious at a blood alcohol level of .411%, but Edmonds had told him that his wife was abusing alcohol. Guzzardi said he had seen anecdotal evidence of “chronic alcoholics” who can still function, meaning someone could theoretically “pick up a gun and point it at me, you or themselves.”

“For someone with a high alcohol tolerance, it’s completely different,” Guzzardi said.

On cross-examination, District Attorney Jason Walsh noted that Guzzardi never examined Weis-Edmonds and was unaware of her drinking habits. Walsh also pointed out that Guzzardi relied on information from the man accused of killing her.

“I have no independent knowledge of Ms. Weis-Edmonds’ drinking history,” Guzzardi said.

With that, DiSalle ended the testimony for the day and asked the jury to return to the courthouse on Monday so the trial could continue.