A 42-year-old man from Duncannon in Perry County was charged Sunday with homicide, kidnapping and abuse of a corpse after the body of Erica Shultz, Bloomsburg, was found in a wooded area east of Hobbie Road in Butler Twp.
Harold David Haulman III admitted to killing Shultz, who was autistic and whom he met on an online dating site in November.
He was taken into custody and committed to the Luzerne County Correctional Facility following an arraignment before Magisterial District Judge Daniel OâDonnell in Drums.
Haulman was denied bail because of the homicide charge and for being a threat to the public and himself, authorities said.
Sixteen people were victims of homicide in Luzerne County in 2020, according to the Luzerne County Coronerâs Office.
The yearâs cases included three people killed by family members, a shooting during a robbery and a suspect who was shot by the police.
Guns were the preferred method of committing homicide, accounting for 11 of the cases. Physical assault was the cause of death in three of the cases, and another case was attributed to injuries sustained in a car crash.
The number of homicides was up from the 12 people who were mortally wounded in Luzerne County in 2019, but was comparable to the total in other years â the county had 15 homicides in 2018, 16 in 2017 and 12 in 2016.
Eric Fay was her neighbor. I saw [missing] signs all over the telephone poles. She was nice and she was well-liked among her peers. She was a good worker at Weis, said Fay.
State police arrested Harold Haulman, 42, and charged him with criminal homicide, kidnapping and abuse of corpse for killing Shultz.
During a news conference, the Luzerne County District Attorney said investigators tracked down Haulman through Shultz’s cell phone records and interviews with her friends.
Investigators discovered Haulman and Shultz met through a dating website.
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Updated: 5:51 PM EST December 25, 2020
Retired Luzerne County Judge and District Attorney Chester B. Muroski passed away on Wednesday, Dec. 23 at the age of 80.
According to his obituary, he passed away after having COVID-19.
Muroski was the Luzerne County District Attorney from 1978 until 1981. He then served as a judge and then as president judge. He retired as a senior judge in 2017.
He led the courts as president judge after the Kids for Cash scandal involving Judge Conahan and Judge Ciavarella.
Due to pandemic-related restrictions, the family says there will be no public services at this time.