Ernest Wholaver Jr – Family Annihilator

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Enrest Wholaver Jr killed his family on Christmas Eve 2002

On Christmas Day, 2002 three women were discovered murdered in their Middletown home.  The only survivor was too young to tell police the heinous crimes that her grandfather, Ernest Wholaver Jr., had committed in the early morning hours.  Learn how one man was brought to justice for killing his own family.

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Middletown, Pennsylvania

Middletown, PA Square
Middletown, PA Square MattMauler [CC BY-SA]

In 1755, Middletown, PA was founded along the eastern bank of the Susquehanna River by George Fisher. It was named Middletown because it was halfway between Lancaster and Carlisle. It is the oldest community in Dauphin County and is approximately 10 miles south of Harrisburg. I was a supply depot for the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.

According to the 2010 census, there are approximately 8,900 citizens. Middletown is located along an important transportation corridor with access to 283 South, the PA Turnpike, and Interstates 81 & 83.

December 24, 2002

Jean Wholaver (age 43), her two daughters, Elizabeth (age 15), who went by the nickname “Izzy” and Victoria (age 20), and Victoria’s 9 month-old little girl, Madison, were late in arriving for Christmas Eve dinner at Jean’s parent’s home in Johnstown, PA. Johnstown is approximately 2 ½ hour drive from Middletown.

This was a family tradition. Jean, her husband Ernest, and their two girls would travel to Jean’s parent’s (Joe and Mary Bittman) home for dinner the night before Christmas. Then they would stay over and open gifts on Christmas morning. This year was going to be different. Jean and Ernest separated that summer after over twenty years of marriage. It was just going to be Jean and the girls.

Calls to Jean’s home were not answered or returned. Jean’s mother was so worried that she contacted the police. She inquired if there had been any accidents on the highways that Jean would have been traveling. She even called the Middletown Police to see if they could do a welfare check. The dispatcher told her to call back the next day if the family did not arrive. Jean might have been delayed due to travel conditions.

When Jean and the girls fail to arrive by Christmas morning Mary Bittman called the Middletown Police Department. She asked that a welfare check be done at Jean’s home in the 800 block of North Union Street.

December 25, 2002

At 7 am Sergeant Robert Givler of the Middletown Police Department had just come on duty. He was contacted by dispatch to conduct a welfare check at the home of Jean Wholaver. When Officer Givler pulls up to the white Dutch colonial he doesn’t see anything suspicious or out of the ordinary. He knocks on the front door and rings the doorbell, but there was no answer. He really can’t see much looking through the windows.

Officer Givler goes to the back of the home and notices that windows in the garage door are been broken out. He grabs the garage door to see if it is still latched, but it lifts easily. Officer Givler notices the family car is still in the garage. He knocks on the door leading into the home. It falls open and Officer Givler enters the home. He announces himself but gets no response when he calls out. The door leads to a little hallway. Through the archway off the kitchen, he discovers a female body lying on the floor.

She is cold to the touch.

Officer Givler Calls for Back Up

Backup soon arrives. The officers’ main job is to clear the home and secure the scene while they wait for homicide detectives and the crime scene unit to arrive. They clear the bottom floor and that is when they hear a noise coming from upstairs. With guns drawn they slowly climb the stairs. In the hallway, they discover a deceased female victim with a baby sitting in the crook of their arm.

Officer Givler continues his search while the other officer takes the baby downstairs. He waits for an ambulance to make sure the baby doesn’t have any injuries. Baby Madison only suffered from dehydration. She had been left alone in the house for almost 30 hours until officers discovered her.

Officer Givler discovers a third female victim lying across the bed in the bedroom at the end of the hall.

The Victims

The Ernest Wholaver killing contributed to the US Family Homicides by Relationship 1980 to 2008 statistics
US Family Homicides by Relationship 1980 to 2008 User:Struthious Bandersnatch [CC BY]

All three women had been shot dead with a single shot from a small-caliber weapon. Jean Wholaver had been shot in the head and was the victim found in the kitchen. Police believe she was fixing her morning coffee when the unsub snuck up and fired a single shot. The coffee filter fell in the nearby trash can.

They theorized that the timeline to be sometime around 4 am. The second victim was 20-year-old Victoria who was shot on the top of her head. Police theorize that she crouched over to protect her baby when the unsub fired. She was lying right outside the bedroom door of where the 3rd victim was found.

Izzy was found lying across her bed with a single gunshot wound to her left eye. The shot was up close. There where burn marks around her eye. Police believe that she grabbed the barrel of the gun when it was fired due to burn marks on her hands. No weapon was found in the home

Wholaver Investigation

A crime scene officer found that a group of wires at the back of the house had been cut. This was done so that no one could call out for help. As with any investigation, those closest to the victims are looked at first. Then investigators work their way out once they are cleared.

Jean and Ernest Wholaver separated in the summer of 2002 due to allegations Victoria and Izzy had made against their father, Ernest Wholaver, Jr. Victoria kept a terrible secret for years. Her father was molesting her. She hoped that if she kept the secret he would not touch Izzy.

She had a conversation with her aunt where she said, “It’s happening to Izzy, it’s happening to Izzy” “he promised it wouldn’t happen to Izzy” “It’s dad doing it to us.” When Victoria discovered Ernest was also molesting Izzy, she and Izzy told the police what was happening to them and filed formal charges. Jean filed for a Protection From Abuse (PFA) against Ernest Wholaver. He had to vacate the home and was not allowed near the home or the women per his bail release conditions.

He had been freed in July 2002 on $100,000 bail pending trial. The trial was to be held in January 2003, 2 weeks after the murders. Ernest Wholaver moved back to his parent’s home in Cambria County.

Detectives Have Questions

Detectives traveled the three hours to Cambria to question Ernest. He was brought to the local police station by his brother, Scott Wholaver. Ernest told police that he heard about the murders from family members but had no knowledge of who could have done it. His alibi was that he and his brother Scott, were out spotting deer and coyote in the local mountains of Cambria County. They were out from about 2 am to about 9:10 am. Scott gave the same alibi as Ernest.

Other individuals that were looked at included Frankie Ramos who was Madison’s father. They had a somewhat contentious relationship when they lived together in Berks County. Police had even been called to the home. Frankie didn’t believe Madison was his until a paternity test proved otherwise. Frankie’s alibi for the 24th was verified and he was cleared. He was still in the Reading area which is about 1 ½ hour from Middletown.

Turner Higgens had an on-again-off-again relationship with Victoria and they experienced a recent falling out. At one point, Turner, who worked for a locksmith changed all the locks on the home at Jean’s request. Turner’s alibi was validated and he was also cleared. So the police were back looking at direct family members. Search warrants are obtained for the Wholaver residence in Cambria County and for Scott Wholaver’s vehicle. Detectives found a notebook in Scott’s trunk. There is a note in Scott’s handwriting that says “we were out spotting deer and coyotes”.

The Brothers Are Brought Back In

Ernest asserted his right to remain silent and contacted his attorney who he left with. Scott Wholaver kept to the rehearsed alibi. After being shown crime scene photos of his sister-in-law and two nieces he broke down and confessed to what he knew. He tells police that he drove Ernest to his former Middletown home in the early morning hours of December 24, 2002.

They were out drinking when Ernest said that he wanted to go to Middletown to get his dog. Scott drove him even though he knew that per Ernest’s bail conditions he was not to be anywhere near Middletown. They arrived close to 4 am. Ernest told him to park down the block and remain in the car. Ernest Wholaver retrieved items from the back seat and took off towards the house.

He returned about 10 minutes later. He told Scott to drive them back to Cambria County, but not to their home, but further north into the woods. According to Scott, Ernest was in an “agitated state” when he came back to the car and wouldn’t tell him what happened. When they got there, Ernest left the car and walked into the woods with a pistol and shotgun. He did not return with either gun.

Scott would take police to the area that Ernest had gotten out of the car with the guns. State police cadets searched every inch of the massive acreage. Police are about to call off the search when an officer looks down between some rocks and sees something orange in color. It was the rusted barrel of a pistol. When police ran the serial number they found the gun belonged to Earnest Wholaver’s mother’s brother. Ballistic testing showed this was the murder weapon.

January 2003

Death Penalty

Ernest Wholaver Jr. is charged with three counts of first-degree murder. The state is seeking the death penalty. Scott Wholaver is charged as an accomplice and held without bail. In a plea deal, Scott agrees to plead guilty to three counts of third-degree murder and is given a 12 to 25-year sentence before he becomes eligible for parole.

While in jail awaiting trial, Ernest attempts to hire a hitman through another prisoner, James Meddings of West Virginia. He wants to kill Frankie Ramos and make it look like a suicide. Frankie’s suicide note would say he was the actual killer of Jean, Victoria, and Izzy. Needless to say, the prisoner tells the authorities. They are able to get a DEA agent from West Virginia to pose as the alleged hitman. Authorities recorded them discussing the killing using the code word “TANK” to stand for Ramos.

Wholaver Trials

At trial, the three counts of murder were combined with the sexual offenses and the criminal solicitation related to having Ramos killed. Scott Wholaver testifies for the prosecution stating that when Ernest moved back home he said that he would shoot Jean. Victoria and Izzy’s testimony from their preliminary hearing is admitted under the forfeiture-by-wrongdoing exception to the hearsay rule. The theory was that they were killed to prevent their testimony.

Ernest Wholaver Jr. is convicted on three counts of first-degree murder, killing prosecution witnesses, conspiracy, reckless endangerment (of Madison), burglary, and criminal solicitation. He was acquitted of the sexual offenses. The jury sentenced Ernest to three death sentences. Due to various appeals, Ernest Wholaver Jr. is still on death row. In addition, there is a moratorium on executions in PA under Governor Wolf.

According to a Press & Journal article by Jeff Lewis posted in January 2014 the Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled on January 10 2014 that the sexual abuse charges against Wholaver would stay on his criminal arrest record. Although a jury acquitted him, they only did so because he had murdered the very witnesses that were to testify against him. The Superior Court noted that the “sexual abuse charges” are “inextricably tied to the murders” and Wholaver is not entitled to relief that would expunge his record.

Ernest was seeking relief stating that having the charges on his record would “hinder his chances” of proving his innocence in the future. In, January 2019 the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld Wholaver’s convictions dismissing over a dozen issues that he raised on appeal. His state appeals have been exhausted and now turns to the federal appeal process.

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