Jon Yount – Killer Teacher

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Jon Yount killed one of his students, Pamela Sue Rimmer in rural Clearfield County, PA

In April 1966, 18-year-old Pamela Sue Rimmer would be found murdered in rural Clearfield County, Pennsylvania.  Her killer would soon confess claiming it all started with a misunderstanding but did it?  Listen to the case and hear how Jon Yount would evade justice for a time with the help of his prison pen pal and how Pamela’s mother never gave up on seeking justice for her daughter.

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Location

Luthersburg, Pennsylvania is located south of DuBois in Clearfield County. Founded in 1804, Clearfield County is a rural farming community whose main industry then as it is today is coal mining. Originally this area held an Indian village by the name of Chinklacamoose, but in 1797 Daniel Ogden settled in the area and is the first known “white settler” to do so. A famous incident known as the Bloody Knox Cabin occurred in 1864. A Union Army soldier, Tom Adams, fled the army and rented a cabin in Knox Township. Tom Adams decided to throw a party at a cabin and had invited other deserters to attend.  When Union soldiers arrived Adams shot and killed a young union soldier. The shootout ended with Adams dead and the other remaining deserters being rounded up.

Clearfield, PA - Georgie lennon8705, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
Clearfield, PA Georgie lennon8705, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Final Walk 

On April 28, 1966, the afternoon was grey and drizzly when 18-year-old, Pamela Sue Rimer, got off her school bus to head home. Tragically, she would never make it. Pamela’s body would be found about a quarter of a mile from her home in a wooded area lying face down among the mud and leaves. She was found with one of her stockings tied around her neck and one of her sneakers was under her body. Otherwise, Pamela was fully clothed, but her skirt was twisted. She had been beaten, raped, strangled and her throat was cut.

Authorities began to question nearby residences to see if they had seen or heard anything that afternoon. Two witnesses would report seeing the same vehicle, a station wagon, in the area where Pamela’s body was found. One witness told authorities that they had seen the car pass their home headed towards where Pamela was found then pass again heading in the opposite direction at a high rate of speed. Pennsylvania State Troopers would find out that the description of the vehicle matched one that Jon Yount, a local high school teacher owned. This information was obtained around 2 am on April 29th and authorities would most likely have tracked down Yount had he not come to them first.

Just Starting Out

Pamela Sue Rimer was the oldest of two children born to Doug and Lavonne Rimer. She had one younger brother, Doug Jr. who died in a farming accident when he was just 10-years-old in 1963. Pamela was a senior honors student at Dubois Area High School. She was a member of the 4-H Club and played the clarinet in the marching band. She had been accepted to Penn State University and planned to attend in the coming fall on scholarship. Pamela was smart.  She was the only female student in a class of nine to take advanced mathematics classes.  Jon Yount was her teacher.

Jon Yount Confesses

While Pennsylvania State Troopers were continuing their investigation 28-year-old Jon Yount entered a state police substation in DeBois at 5:45 am on April 29th and rang the bell. He told the trooper on duty that “I am the man you are looking for.”  When asked what he was referring to Yount replied “the incident in Luthersburg.” The officer who answered the door was unaware of any connection between the man at the door, the murder nor the vehicle police were looking for at the time.

The officer on duty asked him to take a seat and went to notify the detective on duty and another trooper of what had just occurred. When the detective arrived the man introduced himself as Jon Yount. Yount handed over his wallet and a copy of his driver’s license was taken. He was read his rights. Keep in mind that Miranda v. Arizona was in the process of being heard by the Supreme Court.   

The following conversation was taken from Jon Yount’s 1974 appeal.

Detective:  “why are we looking for you?”

Yount:  “I killed that girl”

Detective: “what girl”

Yount:  “Pamela Rimer”

Detective:  “how did you kill this girl?’

Yount:  “I hit her with a wrench and choked her”

Yount’s Version of What Happened

Jon Yount went on to say that he had been driving in the area looking at properties when he saw Pamela Rimer walking home after being dropped off by her school bus. He stopped and offered her a ride. During that ride, Yount claimed to have made an innocent comment that Pamela took the wrong way. Pamela then tried to leave Yount’s vehicle claiming that she was going to tell people about him. He grabbed her by her coat to prevent her from leaving. Yount stated that he doesn’t recall much after that but did say that he struck her with a wrench and strangled her. He made no mention of stabbing her or sexually assaulting her.

Yount was subsequently arrested and detained.

Findings

Pamela’s autopsy revealed that she had numerous wounds on her head which looked to have been caused by a blunt instrument (i.e. a wrench). She had blood over the majority of her outer clothing, but little was found on her undergarments. The blood looked to have come from wounds to her head and neck. Pamela also had cuts to her fingers indicating defensive wounds. She had three slash marks across her neck.

On the initial review, the physician performing Pamela’s autopsy did not see any indication of her having been sexually assaulted. There was no injury to her genital area and her hymen was intact. As it was a matter of routine a vaginal aspiration test was performed. The results showed a quantity of disintegrated sperm in Pamela’s vaginal tract.

Ultimately, Pamela’s cause of death was strangulation in addition to blood loss.  

Teacher to Murderer

Jon Yount graduated from Penn State University in 1958 with a degree in mathematics. He had been employed as a high school math teacher for the previous eight years. Yount was married and had two children.

Yount went to trial on September 28, 1966. The trial would last nine days. Yount’s defense team attempted to have his confessions thrown out before the trial. They contended that when he was only told he had the right to remain silent, but nothing about his right to an attorney and if he could not afford one then one would be provided his Miranda rights had been violated. The court declined to throw out Yount’s confession and the trial proceeded.

Yount was found guilty of rape and first-degree murder on October 7, 1966. The jury recommended life imprisonment.

Constitutional Rights

Jon Yount appealed his conviction because his Constitutional rights had been violated and the court had erred in allowing his confession to stand at trial. His direct appeal would be heard by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court who would rule in favor of Yount citing that the Commonwealth had failed to give all the warnings necessitated by Miranda even though it had not been decided at the time of his arrest.

Although Yount confessed before Miranda v. Arizona was decided by the time he was on trial Miranda had been determined. So the admissibility of his confession should have been viewed through the lens of Miranda.  

The Commonwealth for their part argued that Yount’s confession was voluntary and that they were not required to tell him of his right to free counsel because they felt he could have afforded one based upon his profession. The Court felt that it was in error to assume what Yount could or could not afford. They also felt that even though he voluntarily come into the barracks and admitted to killing Pamela once authorities started asking him questions all the Miranda warnings were necessary. Yount was granted a new trial.

Round Two

Jon Yount went on trial for the second time in November 1970. This time the rape charge was omitted as was his confession. Fortunately, there was enough evidence gathered throughout the investigation that Yount was convicted for a second time. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.  

By all accounts, Yount was a model prisoner for twenty years. He played the organ in the prison choir, taught other prisoners, and even worked as a jailhouse lawyer. Yount was transferred to Camp Hill State Correctional Institution for some time for computer programing classes. It was during his time at Camp Hill that he met Diane Brodbeck, a forty-three mother of two.

Brodbeck lived in Wellsville, Pennsylvania with her husband Chester. She was actively involved with her church and it was through Luthern Social Services that she took over writing to prisoner Yount in 1982. A friend of hers had been writing Yount through the prison pen pal program when she asked Brodbeck to take over. Writing soon turned into visits. After Yount was transferred to Rockview State Correctional Institution in Centre County Brodbeck continued to visit him weekly even though it was a two-hour drive. She would visit for four hours with guards thinking that she was his girlfriend based on the kissing and hugging.

SCI Rockview PA - Prison Insight, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
SCI Rockview PA Prison Insight, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Trying to Get Out

Over the following years, Jon Yount attempted to have his conviction overturned with little success. The United States Supreme Court finally decided not to hear Yount’s final appeal.  In February 1985, Yount wrote to Brodbeck telling her that he was in love with her and was thinking of escaping.

On April 5, 1986, Yount was taken out to the agricultural fields outside the prison walls to work on cutting down some hay around 1 pm. This area was approximately one mile from the prison. Yount had earned minimum security status due to his good behavior while behind bars. Yount was to be the only one working that day in the field with no supervision. Prison officials didn’t know that Brodbeck had picked up Yount on a nearby road and took off. Yount was not discovered missing until 3:30 pm.

When it was discovered that Yount was on the run Walter Regel an off-duty prison guard who knew Brodbeck came forward to report that he had seen hear driving near the prison around 1:45 pm on the day of the escape. Pennsylvania State Police were notified and the investigation commenced, but there was little success. The couple appeared to have vanished.

Clueless

Brodbeck’s husband Chester, whom she had been married to for the past twenty-five years, was questioned when authorities realized she played a role in Yount’s escape. Chester told authorities that he thought his wife was going to Williamsburg, Virginia for the weekend. It was also discovered that in the weeks before the escape Brodbeck had opened a secret bank account to which she transferred $7,410 from an account that held $7,500. She had also placed a light blue car in a storage facility in the Harrisburg area two weeks prior. Authorities also discovered that the night before the escape the two had talked for 14 minutes by phone. Diane Broadbeck was charged as an accessory in Yount’s escape.

A month after Yount’s escape authorities found Brodbeck’s car abandoned at a motel about 20 miles from her home.  Inside the trunk was a bag containing her jewelry, cosmetics, and underwear. Pennsylvania State Trooper Raymond Madden who worked on tracking down Yount and Brodbeck had two theories as to what this could mean for Brodbeck’s safety. One was that Yount had manipulated and used Brodbeck to escape and after she served her usefulness he would dispose of her. The second theory was that the two had fallen in love and were now living together somewhere under aliases. Brodbeck’s family had another theory, they believed that she was being held against her will.  

Unsolved Mysteries

For over two years there were no signs of Jon Yount nor Diane Brodbeck. Tips were followed up on saying the couple had been spotted in Maryland, State College, and even Montreal, but nothing panned out. It’s as if they disappeared off the face of the earth and it would have remained that way if not for an episode of Unsolved Mysteries that aired in May 1988. The episode segment outlined Jon Yount’s crime and escape from Rockview State Correctional Institution. Pictures of Yount and Brodbeck were shown and soon after the episode aired tips started pouring in.

Don Humphreys of Coeurd’Alene, Idaho a town outside of Boise called in to report that he knew Diane Brodbeck. Only he knew her as Mary Katherine Kermen when they both worked together for a lawn maintenance service. Jon Yount was living under the name of Jim Forsgren and had worked for a time as a computer programmer. In June 1988 both Brodbeck and Yount were arrested and extradited to Centre County, Pennsylvania. At the time of their arrests, Brodbeck had been working as a chimney sweep or a bank manager depending on what article you read and Yount had been unemployed.

Home Again

On September 1, 1988, Brodbeck’s family posted $250,000 property bail for her release. In December 1988 Brodbeck pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy in a plea deal with then Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar after he withdrew the hindering prosecution, aiding in the consummation of a crime and escape charges from her plea.  Brodbeck faced up to a $15,000 fine and up to seven years in prison.

If the name Ray Gricar seems familiar it’s because I mentioned him in a previous episode on James Robert Cruz Jr. Ray Gricar carries a mystery of his own since he disappeared in 2005 without a trace. As of today, Ray Gricar is still considered a missing person.

Court documents show that the couple traveled to Idaho after their escape and rented a basement apartment in Dalton Gardens which is a suburb of Coeur d’Alene. They used fake social security numbers and birth certificates.  The couple’s landlord, Patty Meyer, gave an interview in which she told reporters that she believed the couple to be in love and had even had a conversation with Brodbeck/Kirman where she told her so.

Brodbeck Is Sentenced

Brodbeck ended up serving two years in prison for her helping Jon Yount escape prison. Per Bodbeck’s attorney, Terrance McGowan, Diane knew that she made a mistake. At the time that she got involved with Yount, she was going through a difficult period in her life. Both of her children were grown and she felt that she was not needed. In addition, her home life felt lacking. So when Yount gave her attention that she was missing it filled a void. Her attorney claimed that Brodbeck knew little about what got Yount sentenced to prison and that Yount had played upon Brodbeck’s feelings of emptiness and manipulated her.

Yount received an additional 3 to 7 years to his sentence after pleading guilty to escape. Upon his return to prison, Yount once again worked as a jailhouse lawyer focusing on voting rights. He was one of the first to notice how the Pennsylvania Census Bureau was miscounting prisoners so that it could distort redistricting for state officials. He also brought a lawsuit against T-Netix, a telephone company for abusive telephone rates and billing practices against inmates in which he won refunds for the year 2008.

Motive

Since his original conviction, Jon Yount attempted numerous times to seek relief.  He felt that he should have never been charged with first-degree murder, only second degree, as he claimed his crime was not premeditated. Pamela’s mother, however, disagreed and she worked just as hard to keep him behind bars.

Lavonne Rimer believed that her daughter had been targeted by Yount. In interviews, she told reporters that her daughter had asked if she could be moved out of Yount’s class. Pamela told her mother, “Oh mom, you should see his eyes.”  Pamela had also allegedly told her mother that she had seen Yount driving by their house on several afternoons leading up to the murder. Lavonne believed that Yount had waited for Pamela to get off the bus catching her alone on the desolate road. Somehow he convinced her to get into his car whether by manipulative charm or force. When Pamela was able to escape his car her mother believed that she was trying to cut through the woods to reach the main road when Yount caught up with her.

Lavonne Rimer passed away in 2010 and up to that time she worked on keeping Jon Yount behind bars by facilitating petition drives, attending every parole hearing, and writing politicians.

Yount continued to be a model prisoner but was no closer to the relief he sought from his conviction. On April 26, 2012, Jon Yount took his own life in his cell. Forty-six years and two days shy of the anniversary of Pamela Rimer’s murder.  

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