Insets, from left: David Snyder and Kimberly Gsell (Middlesex Township police). Background: The Rodeway Inn in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where Snyder allegedly killed Gsell (Google Maps).
A Pennsylvania man allegedly killed his wife’s fiancee when he choked her to death and buried her on the bank of a creek, where her body went undiscovered for seven years until he led police to the gravesite.
David Allen Snyder, 39, is charged with first-degree murder and strangulation in the death of 38-year-old Kimberly Gsell.
According to a probable cause arrest affidavit obtained by Law&Crime, Gsell was engaged to Snyder’s wife, Amanda Snyder. Cops said the Snyders were still married at the time. Gsell and her fiancee checked into the Rodeway Inn in Carlisle on Sept. 27, 2019. At some point, Amanda Snyder injured her nose in a fight with Gsell, the affidavit said.
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David Snyder drove to the motel and picked his wife up and took her to the hospital. He initially told investigators that he was with his wife at the hospital for her entire stay.
Amanda Snyder said when she returned to the motel, Gsell was missing. She “provided numerous explanations for Gsell’s whereabouts” to family and friends, according to police.
David Snyder allegedly claimed he never saw Gsell again. But investigators identified several “inconsistencies” in David Snyder’s statements, the affidavit stated. Law enforcement confronted him with his alleged lies in an interview last week, and he allegedly confessed.
He said that on the night of Gsell’s death, he convinced Gsell to go visit Amanda Snyder at the hospital. After they entered his car, he allegedly choked her to death, using the passenger seat as leverage. He said he believed she was intoxicated and “did not fight back.” He then allegedly told investigators that he covered Gsell’s body with a blanket.
David Snyder then drove the victim to a secluded area in Cumberland County and buried her on the bank of Yellow Breaches Creek, cops wrote. The suspect and Amanda Snyder, who has not been charged, reported her missing to her family and police.
On Saturday, he took cops to the area where he allegedly buried Gsell.
Cumberland County District Attorney Seán McCormack told reporters at a press conference that they initially found the “blanket she had been wrapped in and a single bone.” From there, they called in more manpower and recovered her body.
The affidavit did not detail a possible motive.
“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.
David Snyder was arrested and remains in the Cumberland County Jail without bond. His next court date is set for Oct. 7.
McCormack said he hopes the recovery of Gsell’s body gives her family some closure.
“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 fiancee to death in car outside motel and buried her on the bank of a creek: Cops first appeared on Law & Crime.
