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CHAPTER 15

In the past, society has put the Amish on a high pedestal, believing them incapable of murdering or suicide. However, no culture or religion is perfect. Even among the Amish, there are those who are capable of such heinous acts as a brutal murder or suicide, espousal abuse, severe cases of child abuse, and child molestation. When these incidents occur there should be no special treatment. No true religion should be able to hide behind their religion as an excuse to ignore child abuse. But often the public finds it hard to believe an Amish man is capable of any indecent act.

There is nothing wrong with having close ties to the Amish community, but not to the point where there is more concern with whether someone can get free garden vegetables or a beautiful homemade kitchen dinette set for a family at half price. The Amish must not be afraid to reach out to the American Public for help when they are being abused or when there is a mental illness. They should not be too proud to admit that there are some problems that Amish cannot solve themselves.

Amish Criminal Homicide - Incident #E5-589699

On the evening of March 18th, 1993 at approximately 5:30 P.M., a brutal murder rocked an Amish community of twenty-six families. Joe Gingerich was able to describe the murder of his wife to the officers at the scene in great detail; he had used his bare hands to kill his wife.

Joe had been having mental problems. Friends and relatives had tried all the Old Amish remedies. Prior to this incident, Joe had been admitted to the State Hospital at Lake Erie for a short time. However, he was quickly released. The Amish do not like to involve the public in their affairs. In March, Joe had deteriorated so badly that even the Amish were deeply concerned.

They were blaming part of his mental problem on a brand name Gunk, S-C Super Concentrated, referred to as PR6420-ca degreaser, which Joe had been using when his mental problems began. The warning label on the degreaser can read that improper use could cause damage to the nervous system. This is what the Amish blamed Joe's mental problems on.

What pushed Joe Gingerich over the edge was that there was an Amish wedding in the small community that day. He was not permitted to attend because of his mental problems. One of the Amish men would stay with Joe, his wife and three children on the day of the wedding. This was the third day Joe didn't get out of bed. That evening at five o'clock the Amish gentleman who was in Joe's home to keep an eye on him left to go home and do his chores.

Joe's wife, Becky, was in the kitchen preparing supper for her husband before she left to go to the wedding that evening. She was happy, singing little German songs. It was one of her relatives getting married. Becky couldn't help but think about her marriage to Joe half a dozen years ago, and how that marriage had turned into a nightmare.

In the past, her husband had been a good provider. He worked hard at his own sawmill from day light till dark. Becky wished things could go back to the way they used to be, but was happy to, at least, be getting out of the house that evening.

At approximately five-thirty that evening, Joe got out of bed, walked through the living room into the kitchen, and beat his lovely wife's head in with his bare hands.
As she was lying unconscious on the floor, he kicked her until her skull opened. Their three children were standing in the doorway of the kitchen watching. Sam was only five years old, Menno was four, and little Ada was three. Sam knew he had to try and get his Mother some help. Sam ran to his Amish Uncle's house.

Meanwhile, Menno and Ada watched their Daddy break their Mother's skull open. Joe reached into Becky's skull with his bare hands and removed her brains, then threw them all over the kitchen floor. He tore his wife clothes off. Then, to make sure the Devil was no longer in his wife, he took a paring knife and cut a seven-inch incision in her abdomen. Again he used his bare hands to remove her internal organs. Their two youngest children were now standing motionless and silent in the doorway of the kitchen.

Sam reached his Uncle's home, and his Uncle had gone to his closest English neighbor and asked him to call the paramedics and the local authorities. After Joe finished dismembering his wife, he calmly picked up little Ada and took Menno by the hand and started walking up the road like nothing had happened. Joe was arrested and charged with this brutal crime. The local Judge described Joe, whose IQ was 80, as being only borderline functional. Becky had just turned 29 on the 17th of March. There were many serious warning signs in the past twelve months that were ignored.

The local Judge found Joe guilty of involuntary manslaughter but mentally ill. He was sentenced to two to five years, a misdemeanor of first degree. Joe was eligible for parole in just two years. However, the Amish protested and Joe served his full five years. He was released on March 18,1998.

An Amish suicide took place near Apple-Creek, Ohio on June 27th. Pete C. Hershberger was the son of Atlee D. Hershberger who lived near Kidron, Ohio . My wife Fran went to school with Pete. Pete was married to Joe Gingerich's daughter Sarah, near Maysville, Ohio.

Pete and Sarah had a nice sized family. In his earlier years, Pete didn't show any signs of depression. However, Pete had a cousin who had committed suicide in the late seventies by sticking a twelve-gauge shotgun barrel in his mouth and pulling the trigger. The last couple of years before Pete's death, Pete started showing signs of depression and mood swings. Again, his Amish friends and relatives tried to treat this illness with home remedies. On June 27th, Pete C. Hershberger took his life by hanging himself with a rope in his barn.

Perhaps this waste of life could have been prevented with professional treatment. I have talked rather harshly at times about my people, but I have also tried to make the public aware of the different categories of Amish. I have nothing but the greatest respect for the true Old Order Amish. I have worked with these people in the past. In fact, my people originally came from the true Old Order Amish.

However, if you live near an Amish Community that doesn't even have a slow-moving vehicle emblem on the back of their buggy, there is one thing you can count on, it is rigidly controlled.