In the early morning hours of June 2, 2016, Edward Charles Gilhart, a 60-year-old male, was on his way to work from his home in Hancock, Maryland. His journey took him near Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, where a tragic and fatal encounter awaited him. It was between 3:00 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. that he came across a duffle bag intentionally placed in the middle of the road, a deliberate lure in a staged robbery scheme.
When Gilhart stopped his Kia Sportage to investigate the bag, a man emerged from behind a rock and shot him multiple times. The assailant then proceeded to take Gilhart's wallet, which contained only $24.
The grim discovery was made around 4:00 a.m. by a passing motorist who, despite attempting to swerve, was unable to avoid striking Gilhart's body in the roadway. When law enforcement arrived at the scene, they found that Gilhart had sustained multiple gunshot wounds in addition to injuries consistent with being hit by a vehicle. His car was later found abandoned and still running approximately 25 miles away in Fulton County, with its front bumper resting against a tree. The interior of the vehicle had been doused with antifreeze in an attempt to destroy evidence.
The investigation into the homicide of Edward Gilhart took a significant turn on June 6, 2016, when a woman named Emily Tucker went to the McConnellsburg barracks of the Pennsylvania State Police to report a domestic assault. During that interview, information came to light that implicated Tucker, along with two men, Christian Harris and Ryan Lynn Horton, in a premeditated plan to commit a roadside robbery that ultimately led to Gilhart's death.
The three individuals were subsequently arrested and charged in connection with the murder. Ryan Lynn Horton was identified as the shooter and was ultimately convicted of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the killing of Edward Gilhart. However, on April 11, 2023, Horton was found unresponsive in his cell at the State Correctional Institution at Somerset and was later pronounced deceased. An official cause of death was pending investigation by the Somerset County Coroner's Office.
