Prosecutors: David Stahl confessed to killing his wife, Rebecca

I couldn't find the original thread on this.

David Frank Stahl hid his wife's body in a shed at the couple's Hempfield home after strangling her, he told police in a confession played on Thursday during his preliminary hearing.

While Rebecca Stahl's body was hidden, her family kept calling her accused killer, trying to find her, David Stahl said.

"I'm sorry that it happened," said Stahl, 41, in the recorded confession. He claimed he didn't mean to kill his wife, whose body he later dumped in some weeds in Unity.

District Judge James Falcon held a homicide charge against Stahl for courtafter an 80-minute hearing.

Family members of the victim, a sixth-grade math teacher, filled the courtroom. They wore pins that said, "We Love You, Becky."

They wept during the hearing and shook their heads in disagreement at some points of the confession. They declined comment after the hearing. No one from David Stahl's family attended.

State police Trooper Robert Burford, the sole prosecution witness, provided new details about the killing.

Rebecca Stahl, who was strangled, suffered numerous cuts, bruised gums, blunt-force trauma to her head, trunk, hands and feet, and other injuries.

Police found her body, wrapped in plastic and blankets, on Feb. 24, about 25 feet off Bell Memorial Church Road.

David Stahl was taken to Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital the same day after he took some medication and cut his wrists. When he was released on Feb. 27, he was arrested.

David Stahl told Burford in the Feb. 29 confession at Westmoreland County Prison that he argued with his wife on Feb. 18 before going to Kowboys bar in Whitney. After six hours of drinking, Stahl said, he returned home to see his wife allegedly smoking marijuana, according to the confession.

Stahl said he went back to the bar and got home around 12:30 a.m. on Feb. 19. Stahl said he had drank about 10 to 12 beers, but didn't feel impaired.

Stahl said his wife followed him around the house and argued with him once he returned home. He said he punched the ceiling to defuse the situation. But they got in a fight, and his wife was on top of him, he claimed.

"She had a knife, and at the bottom of the steps I grabbed her arm and grabbed the knife out of it," Stahl told Burford.

"I did not do this intentionally. My hands were around her neck trying to keep her away from me," Stahl said.

Stahl began crying on the recording. He cried again in the courtroom listening to it. He told police he had his hands on his wife's throat for about 30 or 45 seconds.

"I thought she just passed out," he said.

He didn't call for help. He just "laid down beside her and held her," Stahl said.

Later on Feb. 19, Stahl said, he didn't know what to do, and he punched a door out of anger. Stahl allegedly was at the Whitney Club at about 3 p.m. that day, according to a search warrant unsealed yesterday.

On Feb. 20, Stahl allegedly disposed of Rebecca Stahl's body and put his clothing in a plastic bag and placed it in a basement freezer at their home. In the bag were arborvitae leaves, which investigators used to track down the body, left at a former nursery.

On Feb. 19 and 20, Stahl told police, he used the couple's cell phones to text an "argument" back and forth "just to make it seem like she was still there." Her family reported her disappearance on Feb. 21.

Stahl would later allegedly burn his wife's clothing, driver's license, family photos and a workplace identification badge for Derry Area Middle School. Stahl told police he purchased drywall and doors at Lowe's stores in Greensburg and Latrobe to fix portions of the house damaged during the struggle.

Assistant Public Defender Donna McClelland declined comment after the hearing. She has been granted a request to visit the Stahls' Seton View Drive home, accompanied by investigators and the executor of Rebecca Stahl's estate.

Stahl has pleaded not guilty.

At the end of the confession, he said, "I miss my lovebird."

Read more: Prosecutors: David Stahl confessed to killing his wife - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Rebecca Stahl

David Stahl

Rebecca Stahl case: David confesses, sorta
Posted on March 30, 2012 by Valhall

David Stahl, abusive husband of murdered Rebecca Stahl, who had already been arrested for her murder, has confessed. His confession was played in court Thursday during a preliminary hearing. Don’t get too excited though….it was self-defense, about the only thing David didn’t throw in as an “excuse” to why he “accidentally” beat the life out of his wife was the accusation she was wearing a hoodie and it was raining.

David’s confession is disgusting, pathetic, and if it weren’t for the fact we have a dear sweet woman, who is described as having been an awesome teacher and loved by many, murdered in this situation, it would be laughable.

He claims when he got back from his all-day bar-fest he wasn’t impaired…okay. So then it was all the victim’s fault because, according to David, she got on his ass and was bitching at him all around the house. This resulted in an unimpaired, previously accused of beating Rebecca, David with his back on the floor trapped like a 17-year-old kid on a rainy night by Rebecca. She was on top of him and then she had a knife. She was going to kill him and he grabbed the knife out of her hand, and then…

I did not do this intentionally. My hands were around her neck trying to keep her away from me.

I thought she just passed out.

And then, according to embattled victim, David Stahl, he just “laid beside her and held her”.

Give me a f***ing break. It must have been one hell of a death grip on her throat while he was fending off his knife-wielding maniac of a wife with what is described as having Herculean strength and demonic fortitude, because get a-load of the injuries he caused Rebecca by JUST grabbing her throat for “30 or 45 seconds”.

numerous cuts,
bruised gums,
blunt-force trauma to her head, trunk, hands AND FEET,
and “other injuries”

After accidentally beating his wife to death via a single choke hold on her throat he then disposed of her body and bagged all his clothes and put them in a freezer in their basement. Then, he confessed, he started sending text messages back and forth between his phone and her phone to make it look like they were having an argument and “she was still there”.

He ended his sorry excuse of a confession with “I miss my lovebird”.

David, you spineless, woman-beating, worthless, murdering POS…I hear that train a comin’.

Valhall.

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Lisette, for posting this.

I could have sworn we had a link on this horrible, tragic case already. But, I also looked and what you posted is all I found.

What a sad, sad ending..but at least this monster confessed and hopefully, her family can have some peace of mind. Horrific case!

April 6, 2013

A Hempfield man accused of killing his wife told investigators repeatedly that he wanted to talk to them, but only after he obtained an attorney, according to testimony Friday.

But during an interview at the Westmoreland County Prison, David Frank Stahl, 42, waived his right to an attorney and told police he and Rebecca Stahl, 37, argued early on the morning of Feb. 19, 2012, at their home before he allegedly choked her.

“He was willing to talk. He just wanted an attorney,” Trooper Robert Burford testified.

Defense attorneys are seeking to have Stahl's statement to police on Feb. 29, 2012, barred from use by prosecutors as evidence during trial.

Public Defender Matthew Schmizzi entered into evidence Stahl's request for counsel. It was received by the public defender's office on Feb. 27, 2012, administrative assistant Dawn Brooks testified.

Burford testified that Stahl indicated during the Feb. 29 interview that he did not have an attorney.
Judge Debra Pezze ordered both parties to file briefs on the matter before she makes a ruling.

David Stahl allegedly drank for several hours at a Whitney bar between Feb. 18 and 19, 2012. Police said he killed his wife sometime that weekend.

David Stahl told police he hid his wife's body at their Seton View Drive home and dumped it on Feb. 20, 2012, at a former nursery in Unity Township. The victim was on medical leave from her job as a sixth-grade math teacher at Derry Area Middle School after undergoing surgery.

David Stahl would later text a fake argument between their phones and burn items belonging to Rebecca Stahl, including her driver's license, according to police.

Rebecca Stahl's family reported her missing on Feb. 21, 2012. Police found her body three days later.

State police talked to David Stahl on Feb. 21 and 22 and took some photographs of his injuries and the home, Burford testified. During an interview at the state police station on Feb. 22, Stahl told troopers he wanted to stop the discussion and get an attorney.
“What he was telling us wasn't adding up,” Burford testified. “So we just started to question his answers ... and that's when he said he wanted to stop.”

Burford testified that he told Stahl repeatedly to contact the trooper if Stahl wanted to discuss his wife's disappearance.

After Rebecca Stahl's body was found and troopers located David Stahl along Roseytown Road in Hempfield, he was taken to Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg, where he spent the weekend. Troopers arrested David Stahl on homicide charges upon his release from the mental health unit on Feb. 27, 2012.

Two days later, Stahl asked a jail guard to contact Burford, according to testimony.

During that tape-recorded statement, Stahl said he wanted to talk because the troopers had been treating him well, according to testimony. On the tape, which was played during a preliminary hearing, Stahl admits to killing his wife.

Pezze declined to recuse herself from the case after defense attorneys requested her removal because the judge signed related search warrants.

“I'm routinely asked to rule on matters I previously decided,” she said. “I feel that I'm perfectly capable.”