Iraq vet's Pa. double-murder trial

Iraq vet's Pa. double-murder trial not 'whodunit' but 'whydunit' - with his life in balance
JOE MANDAK Associated Press
First Posted: March 18, 2012


HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. — In 2009, three months after he was discharged from the Army because of post-traumatic stress disorder from serving in Iraq, Nicholas Horner robbed a sandwich shop, gunned down two people in cold blood, wounded a third and put a fourth life in grave danger.

His own.

Those facts won't be in dispute when a Blair County jury hears opening statements Monday, which is why his trial will be less of a whodunit than a whydunit. And the jury's answer to that question — why did it happen? — could put Horner on death row.

Horner's family firmly believes his PTSD was fueled not just by his high-stress work clearing roadside bombs, but by images of children killed by artillery shells that cleared the way for his unit. That is the reason Horner, now 31, would have robbed a Subway sandwich shop in Altoona for $130 he didn't need.

Horner shot to death 19-year-old sandwich maker Scott Garlick and wounded another clerk on April 6, 2009. As he ran down the street, possibly searching for a getaway star, he killed 64-year-old Raymond Eugene Williams, who was out collecting his mail.
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