Alleged Insurance Scheme Leads To Deadly Standoff

Most Fourth of July get-togethers are full of family, bar-b-q and fun. For several people in Pennsylvania however, this holiday turned into a very tragic one after a criminal decided to get back at one of the homeowner’s for an alleged insurance-fraud scheme gone bad.

Paul and Monica Shay were having their nephew, Joseph Leo Shay, and his girlfriend Kathryn Erdmann over for the holiday. Erdmann’s 2-year-old son was also present, when, according to PoliceOne.com, Mark Richard Geisenheyner broke into the home and told Mr. Shay “guess you never thought you’d see me again.” He then proceeded to shoot all members in the household, noted the district attorney in Montgomery County, PA, Risa Ferman, who was citing a survivor’s account.

Authorities stated that Shay’s nephew and Erdmann’s son were killed, while Shay, his wife and the toddler’s mother remained in critical condition.

Ferman stated that Geisenheyner was telling his friends about how he had taken the rap and been cut out of the profits for an insurance scam that he and Shay had concocted. He said they had hatched a scheme to torch the rural Pennsylvania country home of Mr. Shay and his wife. They were then supposed to submit an insurance claim for the fire and divvy up the payout.

However, after that fire happened in 2006, Geisenheyner was arrested for possessing artwork that had been reported stolen from Shay’s home, and was sent back to prison on a parole violation, Ferman said. Shay was not apparently charged, and she did not know if there was any truth to Geisenheyner’s story. Shay did file an insurance claim on the painting, but that claim went missing about a month after the fire.

“Fifteen months ago, when Geisenheyner got out of prison, he was determined to exact revenge on Paul Shay,” Ferman said. He began casing the home three months ago, apparently unbeknownst to the family, she said.

Officials stated that just hours after the July 2^ndshooting spree, Geisenheyner went to the home of a prison buddy and talked about the slayings, offering details that were not known to the public.

Later, once Geisenheyner was asleep, the friend and a companion snuck out and called police. Police and SWAT teams surrounded the home and contacted the armed suspect by cell phone.

Delaware County District Attorney G. Michael Green stated that at about 11:30 am the police entered the home, found Geisenheyner in the basement and shot him.

“He was determined not to surrender, not to end up in a prison again,” Green told The Associated Press. “He obviously indicated that he intended to seek revenge against the one victim. There’s no explanation that I’m aware of as to why he would have shot at and killed multiple victims, including a 2-year-old child.”