Wife's charges in 'goose bite' murder case dismissed

Mother: Judith Ann Jarvis. Attachment: Carl R. Jarvis (Pennsylvania State Police).

78 year old woman Pennsylvania was accused kill Husband of more than 30 years will not be tried for capital murder pull upon determination that he was not competent to stand trial and that his driver’s license could not be restored. Perry County Judge Kenneth Mummah on Thursday dismissed the case against Judith Ann Jarvis, who was charged with one count of murder in the 2022 slaying of then-42-year-old Carl Jarvis. records Reviewed by Law&Crime show.

When police first questioned Judith Jarvis about her husband’s murder in 1987, she told investigators she had no idea what happened to Jarvis and explained that visible blood found on her pajamas was from the murder. the result of a recent “goose bite”.” DNA tests, which were not available at the time, later confirmed that the blood belonged to her husband.

Before Judith Jarvis’ arrest, the case, which had been unsolved for 35 years, was being prosecuted by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office. The AG’s office does not plan to appeal Mummah’s decision, according to a report report From The Patriot-News.

Judith Jarvis has been held in jail without bail since her arrest in December 2022.

As Law and Crime previously reportedAround midnight on August 10, 1987, Judith Jarvis called 911 to report a domestic dispute between her and her husband at their home on Cherry Valley Road. She allegedly told the emergency dispatcher that her husband had broken items in the house and thrown a coffee pot at her. Judith Jarvis said she was scared but her husband did not physically harm her.

Upon arrival, state police and first responders contacted Judith Jarvis, who was waiting for them in the front yard of the home. She allegedly said she had been outside since she called 911 and wasn’t sure where her husband was or what he was doing.

The soldiers knocked on the door but received no response from Carl Jarvis. When they entered the house, they found him naked on the bedroom floor with what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the back of his head. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators said a .22-caliber handgun with a six-inch barrel was found on the bed. Authorities said the autopsy determined that Carl Jarvis’ manner of death was homicide and that the cause of death was a close-contact gunshot wound to the head from a .22 caliber handgun found at the scene.

Police also determined that the alleged victim’s death “could not have been the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.”

Speaking to troopers, Judith Jarvis allegedly claimed that she had not seen or touched her husband’s body. When asked about the blood on his pajamas, he allegedly said it “could have been his, probably from a goose bite.” A hand towel that appeared to have blood stains on it was also found. Judith Jarvis’ pajamas and towel were seized and presented as evidence, but no arrests were made in the case at that time.

In October 2020, investigators with the state police went back to the case file and sent Judith Jarvis’ pajamas to a crime lab and compared the blood stain to a hair sample from Carl Jarvis. It was determined that the blood on the pajamas belonged to Carl Jarvis.

“This new technology allowed us to litigate this 35-year-old case,” Eichelberger said. “I am encouraged that we will continue to find answers in situations like these, especially through the use of more advanced technology.”

The Patriot-News reported that Judith Jarvis was scheduled to be discharged from SCI Muncy on Dec. 2 and transferred to a personal care facility for patients with memory loss.

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