Greene County Home Invasion - Sunday

[Montanya]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09083/957788-55.stm Friend of mine is quoted in the story, this is her parents, dammed shame. This is the reason I always keep a firearm within reach while I am at home or out.

Woman dies in home invasion
Husband wounded during attack in rural Greene County
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
By Joe Smydo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
After a 1976 divorce, Betty Jane McClellan moved with her four children to a 1-acre plot surrounded by farmland in western Greene County, and threw herself into the role of single mother.

"She went to every band function, chorus function, play we were in," one of her three daughters, Shelly James of Oakdale, recalled yesterday. She supported the family by working at the local stockyards, as did the man who became her second husband, and lived in a remote mobile home in Richhill Township.

State police said someone broke into the isolated residence around 9:40 p.m. Sunday and killed the 70-year-old Mrs. McClellan. Her husband, Jacob McClellan, 67, was wounded in the home invasion.

Police yesterday were seeking at least two suspects and a white Ford Econoline van, possibly a late 1980s model with windows in the side and rear doors.

One suspect tentatively was described as white, in his mid 40s, 5 feet 6 to 5 feet 9, with a medium build, short brown hair and a light mustache, wearing camouflage pants and a long-sleeved camouflage shirt. Police had no description of the second suspect, the driver.

Mrs. McClellan was pronounced dead at the scene, and her husband was transported to a Pittsburgh-area hospital. No information on his condition was available, but Ms. James said he managed to call 911 for help.

Police didn't say how the couple were attacked, but family members said Mrs. McClelland had been shot.

Blood was visible yesterday on the door of the couple's mobile home at 487 Stringtown Road, a place so remote that there are no neighbors within sight. In that respect, little had changed since Mrs. McClellan and her children moved there more than 30 years ago.

"You had cows on one side and sheep on the other and pigs up on the hill," Ms. James said.

Ms. James said her mother held the family together with public assistance and, later, her job at the Pennsylvania Livestock Auction in Waynesburg.

Though money was tight, Ms. James said, her mother made sure the children had Christmas presents they picked out of Montgomery Ward catalogs. Ms. James said her mother was a band booster for about 15 years and worked on the funnel cake booth at the Jacktown Fair to support her children's school activities.

Patty Friend, whose family owns the stockyards, said Mrs. McClellan first worked in the restaurant, then the office, then returned to the restaurant as a manager, spending about 18 years at the stockyards overall. Yesterday, Mrs. McClellan was to have met a repairman there to take care of a malfunctioning refrigerator.

"She was like my right hand," Ms. Friend said.

Mrs. McClellan, who grew up on a Washington County farm, was a former deacon and member of the sewing circle at Enon Baptist Church. For a time, she also cleaned the church and put out its newsletter.

A talented seamstress, she made wedding and bridesmaid dresses for her daughters' weddings and taught the girls how to crochet, Ms. James said.

On Saturday, Mrs. McClellan hosted a 90th birthday party for her sister, Waneta Wright, at the Graysville fire hall.

"We had like 90 people there. It was wonderful," Ms. James said.

Mr. and Mrs. McClellan knew each other for many years and married about seven years ago.

"They seemed to be a very good pair and seemed to be with one another a good bit," said Mr. McClellan's sister-in-law, Sarah McClellan, who lives nearby. Sarah McClellan said her brother-in-law, who grew up in the Graysville area, has six children.

For a time, Mr. McClellan worked at the stockyards, penning animals and herding cattle onto the scales, Ms. Friend said.

He also has a tow truck and does scrap and salvage work, his sister-in-law said.

"He is a very generous person," Ms. James said. "He has always worked hard for what little he has."

[mojo]

Sorry to hear about that.

[knight0334]

oh wow! sorry about your loss. damn..

I think they use to be former cable tv customers of mine too. I think our lines ended right near that trailer.

[customloaded]

Hey liberal, anti-gun, self defense jerkoffs, where was the police to help these fine, upstanding, citizens? oh, wait, let me guess. Running radar or some other BS thing....

Articles like this piss me off...May she rest in peace!

[knight0334]

The nearest police to them would have been either the state or borough police in Waynesburg.. ...about 25 miles away. A good 35-45 minute drive even if speeding where you could on SR21.

[adymond]

This story is a God damned shame. I am saddened by the loss.

While we like to use these stories to illustrate the need for self defense and the ability to use appropriate tools we can't assume that the victims would have used them had they been available.

There is something about this that just doesn't sit well either. The econoline van and the cammo on the attacker makes me think there must be something more to this.

[camper]

There is something about this that just doesn't sit well either. The econoline van and the cammo on the attacker makes me think there must be something more to this.

More than likely it was a couple guys trying to get into the home invasion business, and the camo was to help them 'go commando' or get into the mood, and the van was probably to haul all the loot they figured they'd wind up with from ripping off an elderly couple in a mobile home.

Did the husband fend them off? The article really didn't say. Either way, this is horrible. Please pass on my condolances to your friend, this is something NOBODY should have to go through.

I hope they find these guys and gut 'em like deer. We almost need a return to prairie justice, IMHO.

camper

[HiredGoon]

Reward offered in Greene County home invasion slaying
Friday, March 27, 2009
The Associated Press

SYCAMORE, Pa. -- Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers is offering a $2,000 reward for information on a deadly home invasion.

Greene County deputy coroner Mary Ann Lewis says 70-year-old Betty Jane McClellan was found shot to death Sunday night in the bedroom of her mobile home in Morris Township. That's about 40 miles south of Pittsburgh.

Authorities say her husband, 67-year-old Jacob McClellan, was also hurt and taken to a Pittsburgh hospital.

State police are looking for two men seen in a white Ford Econoline van that night.

They can't describe the driver but say the other man was white, in his mid-40s, and has short brown hair and a light mustache.

Police aren't saying what may have led to the killing.

[mikey0086]

sorry to hear about your friends loss... i have no words other than i hope they catch those f@ckers

mikey0086

[Montanya]

Yeah I really hope these guys are brought to justice. It's a sad state of affairs, I never met her parents but their daughter is a wonderful person and I assume that comes from the values instilled in her from her mother. If he tried to fight the guy off, come on, he's like 67, she's 70 home much trouble are they gonna give the guy?