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Wyatt N. Dettinger (Warrington Township Police Dept.)
A 25-year-old man in Pennsylvania will spend the remainder of his life behind bars for killing his father, fatally shooting the 48-year-old in a “fit of rage” because he didn’t pay enough attention to him. District Judge Richard Thomas on Tuesday ordered Wyatt N. Dettinger to serve a sentence of life in a state correctional facility without the possibility of parole for the 2019 slaying of Duane Dettinger, authorities announced.
Under Pennsylvania state law, an individual convicted of first-degree murder is subject to a mandatory life sentence. Thomas also sentenced Wyatt Dettinger to six to 12 months on the tampering charge, to be served concurrently, meaning at the same time. Charges of recklessly endangering the welfare of another person and flight to avoid apprehension were initially brought against Wyatt Dettinger but later dropped.
According to a news release from the York County District Attorney’s Office, Wyatt Dettinger in December was convicted on one count each of first-degree murder and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence in his father’s death following a weeklong trial in Bucks County.
The fatal shooting took place at about 11 p.m. on July 22, 2019, in the family’s Carroll Street home in Wellsville where the two men lived.
According to a report from the York Daily Record, a then-21-year-old Wyatt Dettinger shot his father once through the wall of the older man’s bedroom using a .243-caliber rifle, then went into the bedroom and shot him a second time.
Following the shooting, Wyatt Dettinger fled from the home in a car with a 17-year-old girl, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, NBC affiliate WGAL reported. When law enforcement authorities located the fleeing vehicle and attempted to execute a traffic stop, Wyatt Dettinger stopped the car and ran into a forest next to Northern York High School but was quickly taken into custody.
During a subsequent interview with police, Wyatt Dettinger told detectives that he was in a “fit of rage” over his father’s behavior and started bashing his television with the rifle, which caused his father to come into the room to see what was going on. When Duane Dettinger left the room and went back into his own bedroom, his son opened fire, shooting him through the wall.
During the trial, Dettinger admitted that he did not enjoy living with his dad, saying that Duane Dettinger “never paid attention” to him and instead chose to spend most of his time drinking, using his computer, and womanizing, per the York Daily Record.
Wyatt Dettinger also reportedly said that he had been having a really bad day prior to the shooting — to the point that he was contemplating suicide — and told the court, “I lost my cool.”
After firing the first shot through his father’s bedroom wall, Wyatt Dettinger said his dad started making “gurgling noises,” which is why he fired the second shot, explaining that he “didn’t want to hear that.”
