Man charged in 4 murders
A 12-year-old Fayette County boy recovering from a gunshot wound to the chest told authorities Thursday he watched a family acquaintance murder his parents and pregnant sister.
From his hospital bed, Larry Bobish Jr. looked at a police photo lineup and pointed to the man he said shot his family and set their house ablaze: Mark D. Edwards Jr., 19, of 41 Snyder Terrace, South Union Township.
Edwards is charged with four counts of criminal homicide, attempted homicide, arson, aggravated assault and burglary.
"The information we have from the Bobish boy is that (Edwards) came in shooting," Fayette County District Attorney Nancy Vernon said at a news conference after the arrest.
Edwards denied any involvement in the murders.
"We were really good friends," he said of the Bobishes after his arrest.
Edwards was arraigned by North Union Township District Justice Deberah Kula and committed to the Fayette County Prison without bond.
Bobish Jr.'s tale to authorities yesterday mobilized a state police helicopter and more than 20 state troopers in riot gear with machine guns who monitored Edwards' movements in a gray Pontiac for more than an hour, finally stopping him at about 2:45 p.m. on Coolspring Street in Uniontown, just one mile from where the killings took place. A man who was traveling with Edwards was questioned but released without being charged.
Shot and killed on April 14 were Larry A. Bobish Sr., 50; his wife, Joanna M. Bobish, 42; and their daughter, Krystal Bobish, 17, who was five months pregnant. Vernon said she is treating the death of the unborn boy as a homicide.
An autopsy earlier this week determined that all three Bobishes died of gunshot wounds. The unborn child died from lack of oxygen.
When paramedics and police responded to a fire at the Bobish home at 6:49 a.m. Sunday, Larry Jr. told them that "Marky did this," according to the criminal complaint filed against Edwards.
The boy, who is expected to recover, is in protective custody.
Sgt. Charles Depp, the crime supervisor at the state police barracks at Uniontown, said Larry Jr.'s condition has improved.
"He's a lot better off today. But he's still in total emotional shock right now," Depp said.
According to Vernon, Larry Jr. said in an interview yesterday he saw his parents and sister being shot.
"First, he shot the father, then he shot the mother and the sister, then he shot (Larry Jr.) and cut him with a knife," Vernon said.
The boy also identified Edwards from a photo lineup and told police his name. However, the district attorney said Larry Jr.'s statement was not the only evidence police were using.
"He corroborated other information we have received," she said.
Police said Edwards was an acquaintance of the family but did not elaborate on the nature of the relationship. Vernon said she had no evidence to indicate that Edwards was the father of Krystal Bobish's baby.
Authorities did not discuss the motive for the killings. Neither of the Bobishes was employed, and neighbors said the family had many late-night visitors at their Kennedy Street home in North Union Township.
After the arrest, police were searching garbage Dumpsters for the gun used in the shooting, and also searched the home and family members of Bouregard Jones on Grant Street in Uniontown. Jones is Edwards' grandfather.
A family member who would only identify herself as a cousin said she didn't believe police had the right man.
"He wouldn't do something like this. Mark's a good kid. He's been a victim, too, in his life," she said.
A woman who answered the phone at the home of William Bobish, Larry Sr.'s brother, said the family was too distraught to comment yesterday. "Please understand this is very, very tragic for us. The news today was much worse than what we knew. We heard the details today. This is horrible."
Charles Bobish, an uncle of Larry Sr., said, "I'm glad they got the guy that done it. But it ain't gonna do them (the victims) no good."
Frank Bobish, another brother of Larry Sr., said earlier this week that his brother was doing something dangerous to support his family.
"My brother got down and out, and he had to do something to save his family, or he was going to lose them. It may have cost him his life, I don't know. It's a sad day," Frank Bobish said Wednesday as he prepared to retrieve tools from his brother's fire-ravaged home.
The Bobish family has set up a trust fund for Larry Jr.
Donations will be accepted in care of William Bobish, 56 Main St., Fairchance, PA 15456.
Private funeral arrangements were announced Thursday at Haky Funeral Homes Inc., 139 W. Fayette St., Uniontown.
While waiting for paperwork to be completed at his hearing, Edwards told family members that he needed an attorney, and not just any lawyer.
"I don't want a public defender for this kind of case," he said.
