Insets, from left: David Snyder and Kimberly Gsell of Middlesex Township police. Background: The Rodeway Inn in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where Snyder allegedly killed Gsell (Google Maps).
A Pennsylvania man allegedly strangled his wife’s fiancée and buried her beside a creek, where her remains went undiscovered for seven years—until he reportedly led police to the site.
David Allen Snyder, 39, faces charges of first-degree murder and strangulation in the death of 38-year-old Kimberly Gsell.
According to a probable-cause affidavit obtained by Law&Crime, Gsell was engaged to Snyder’s wife, Amanda Snyder, although David and Amanda remained married at the time. Gsell and Amanda Snyder checked into the Rodeway Inn in Carlisle on Sept. 27, 2019. The affidavit says Amanda injured her nose during a fight with Gsell.
David Snyder drove to the motel, picked up his wife and took her to a hospital. He initially told investigators that he stayed with Amanda for the entire time she was receiving treatment.
When Amanda returned to the motel, she discovered that Gsell was gone. Police said she gave family members and friends “numerous explanations for Gsell’s whereabouts.”
David Snyder allegedly maintained that he never saw Gsell again. Investigators, however, found several “inconsistencies” in his account, according to the affidavit. During an interview last week, officers confronted him about the alleged lies, and he reportedly confessed.
Snyder allegedly told police that, on the night Gsell died, he persuaded her to accompany him to the hospital to visit Amanda. Once Gsell was inside his vehicle, he allegedly strangled her, using the passenger seat for leverage. He said he believed she was intoxicated and “did not fight back,” then told investigators that he covered her body with a blanket.
He allegedly drove Gsell to a remote location in Cumberland County and buried her along the bank of Yellow Breeches Creek, police said. Snyder and Amanda, who has not been charged, then reported Gsell missing to her family and law enforcement.
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On Saturday, Snyder reportedly guided police to the location where he had allegedly buried Gsell.
Cumberland County District Attorney Seán McCormack told reporters at a press conference that investigators first located the “blanket she had been wrapped in and a single bone.” Additional personnel were brought in, and authorities later recovered Gsell’s body.
The affidavit did not identify a possible motive for the alleged killing.
“They were well aware of each other through mutual friends and direct friendships, so they did have a history together,” Middlesex Township Police Chief Andrew Bassler said.
Snyder was arrested and remains held without bond in the Cumberland County Jail. His next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 7.
McCormack said he hopes finding Gsell’s remains will bring some measure of closure to her family.
“Unfortunately, we weren’t able to provide a happy ending for Kim’s family, but hopefully now, we’ll be able to provide answers,” McCormack said. “In cases like this, the question is always why [this happened]. Hopefully, those answers will be developed as the case makes its way through the court system.”
The post Man used seat as leverage to choke wife’s fiancée to death in car outside motel and buried her beside a creek, police say, first appeared on Law & Crime.
