Wakefield’s statements in Centre County Court came during a preliminary hearing for suspect George Ishler Jr., 39, who is charged along with Danelle Geier, 32, with murder in the death of Bettig.
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The district attorney alleges the two plotted to kill Bettig, but Ishler claims Geier was the mastermind.
Grier on Wednesday waived her preliminary hearing on the charges against her. Police have received conflicting reports that Bettig may have been romantically involved with Geier – and that Geier and Ishler, who are said to be related as niece and uncle, may have also been in a romantic relationship.
Police said Ishler Jr. and Geier filed a missing person’s report; they are accused of returning to the spot hours later to leave behind clothing and a auto to make it look as though Bettig had gone to the quarry on his own and accidentally fallen from the ledge.
At Penn State, Bettig taught both undergraduate and graduate classes and penned two books, including “Copyrighting Culture: The Political Economy of Intellectual Property” and was the co-author of “Big Media, Big Money: Cultural Texts and Political Economics”. Pathologist Harry Kamerow had noted the cause of death was “blunt force trauma due to a fall”, and was still waiting on microscopic tissue analysis and toxicology reports. They then allegedly waited before Geier reported Bettig missing on August 15, three days later.
A doctor also says Bettig may have been alive for a day or two after being pushed off the cliff before his body was found.
Wakefield said Bettig was likely still alive then when Geier and Ishler returned to the scene eight hours later to plant Bettig’s belongings and vehicle there.
Geier and Ishler were arrested and charged. In December, Ishler introduced Geier to Bettig and she and her child moved into Bettig’s home on Mulberry Lane in Lemont in January. They had tried and failed to drown him on a trip the trio took to Rehoboth Beach in DE on August 10.
Authorities say Ishler was the one who pushed betting to his death off a quarry wall earlier this month.
Ishler and Geier also were allegedly upset with Bettig’s criticism of how Geier was raising her child and that he had been “belittling” Ishler. He said Bettig had recently updated his will to include them.
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Ishler’s defense questioned the proof behind such claims in Wednesday’s hearing, saying the investigation of this case is far from finished.
