John Frank Gebauer, 16, listened intently Tuesday as police described how he allegedly sneaked behind his adoptive mother as she fed animals on the family farm last Feb. 13 and then shot and killed her. A stoic Gebauer sat next to his attorney, Washington County Deputy Public Defender Thomas Cooke, sometimes jotting down notes in a white notebook as Fallowfield Township police Capt. William Ritenour detailed how the teen-ager confessed that he also sexually abused the corpse after shooting his adoptive mother behind her right ear. The hearing was called by Washington County Judge Katherine B. Emery to determine whether Gebauer should be tried as an adult or a juvenile. Gebauer was stopped for driving erratically late Feb. 13 in nearby Charleroi, and police discovered that he was carrying knives and guns in the car. "While John Gebauer was sitting there (with police), he asked what would happen if a young boy would kill and rape his mom," Ritenour told Emery. State Trooper Samuel Ferguson showed "no emotion" throughout the evening of Feb. 13 and into the early morning as police investigated the killing of Alison Logan Gebauer, 47. Her semi-naked body was discovered lying in a barn on the family farm in Fallowfield Township. Cooke maintains that since Gebauer's natural mother's death when he was 7 years old, and after placement in numerous juvenile foster homes, he never has been given access to adequate psychiatric therapy despite numerous signs of mental disorders related to his mother's death, "and never having a father figure in the home." "The testimony will show nothing has ever been followed up on," Cooke said. If Gebauer is convicted as an adult of murdering his stepmother, he could face life in prison, but as a juvenile he would be released at age 21. District Attorney John C. Pettit and Assistant District Attorney Michael Lucas oppose the motion to try Gebauer as a juvenile. Emery heard yesterday from a string of Washington County school and juvenile officials who came in contact with Gebauer after he was adopted by the Gebauers in August 1999. Charleroi Area High School guidance counselor Janet Toth testified that Gebauer was intelligent academically. She said he scored above 95 percent of other 9th-graders in a standardized test and was placed in an accelerated math class. She also said he won an award for an essay he wrote in eighth grade about his adoptive parents, "What My Family Means to Me." In the essay, the teen said after his natural mother died when he was 7 years old, he was placed in numerous foster homes. He claimed he often lived in fear in foster care and never was happy until being adopted by the Gebauers. "Many good feelings come with having a family. I can ask my family members for help with a problem without worrying that they'll laugh at me," Gebauer wrote. "I never had that feeling of trust in foster care or even in the care of the foster family," Gebauer said in the essay, a portion of which was read into testimony during the hearing by juvenile probation officer Monica Baronick. Baronick said she was assigned to Gebauer after an incident in December 2000 when Gebauer ran away from home and was discovered by police carrying three loaded weapons while walking along Route 88 in Roscoe. As part of her investigation, she contacted Children and Youth Services in Lawrence County, where Gebauer was in foster care prior to his adoption. Baronick reported she learned that prior to being adopted, Gebauer had been in "at least six or seven foster homes." She also reported Lawrence officials told her Gebauer had been treated in June 1999, just three months before his adoption, at Sharon Hospital for threatening suicide and there also were reports of sexual abuse while in foster care. She said her investigation disclosed that Gebauer frequently had issues "distinguishing fantasy from reality." She also said authorities described him as "manipulative." School and county juvenile officials reported Gebauer also experienced other behavioral problems. Toth said he ran away from home in the fall of 2001 "on an open house night because he was not receiving high grades in an accelerated algebra class." On another occasion, Gebauer told authorities he ran away from home because he was angry at himself for stealing books at a book fair, Baronick disclosed. In December 1999 just four months after his adoption, Toth recalled that Gebauer told school officials that his stepfather, Edward Gebauer, physically and mentally abused him. However, she said that was later determined by the county Children and Youth Services to be "unfounded." After both incidents, Toth said she recommended to the Gebauers that the youth be placed in a school assistance program for troubled juveniles, but they refused. At the juvenile hearing for Gebauer in late December 2000 after he was discovered carrying loaded weapons in Roscoe, juvenile probation officer Addie Bertram said she recommended the boy enter an intensive, inpatient psychiatric therapy program. Based partially on Baronick's discovery of his history in Lawrence County, Bertram said she recommended during the hearing that Gebauer be placed in a 45-day treatment program. However, she said the Gebauers, through their attorney Tim Beggren, argued that their son be allowed to remain at home and have outpatient counseling, and be ordered to take a hunter's safety training course. "They (Ed and Alison Gebauer) wanted to keep John at home," Bertram said. Susan Berggren, a licensed social worker and close friend of the Gebauers, testified that she conducted several informal counseling sessions with John Gebauer at the request of his parents. These sessions were held between February and May of 2001 at various locations in the family residence. She said the youth made good eye contact with her and expressed affection for the couple and for the animals at their farm. "I did not see anything in John that was cause for alarm," Berggren said. Berggren testified that John Gebauer said he believed his father to be "firm, but fair." "His father was his security, his father was his rock," Berggren said. Berggren said she bought the boy a teen Bible. "At one point, I asked him if he had any faith," Berggren said. "He said 'yes' and he didn't think he would have been able to make it without a God." Pettit said his office will continue to fight Gebauer's bid to be tried as a juvenile. "We don't believe he can be rehabilitated in five years ... which is the window (juvenile law) allows us. Once he reaches age 21 in a juvenile adjudication, he'd have to be released," Pettit said. "Experts tell us that his prognosis is guarded and that tells me we don't really know what he might do once he is released," Pettit said. Pettit said the safety of the community is his main concern. He also disclosed he made the decision to vigorously oppose the motion after numerous discussions with Edward Gebauer and members of Alison Gebauer's family. Edward Gebauer was away on a business trip when his wife was killed. He has refused to take part in his adoptive son's defense. Despite numerous discussions with psychiatric experts and reviewing numerous reports on the case, Pettit remains at a loss to explain a reason behind the killing. "John Gebauer remains pretty much of a mystery to me," Pettit said. Emery will listen to testimony from medical experts who interviewed Gebauer when the hearing resumes Jan. 30. Valley Independent reporter Chris Buckley contributed to this story.

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