The man was friendly. He was even polite.
Still, something about Aaron Thomas Luster was unsettling to Aimee Karcher when he visited her East Liverpool, Ohio, home six months ago with her sister, Christine.
"I don't know how to describe it. He just didn't seem like a good person and it worried me," Karcher, 37, said Thursday. "There was just an air about him. He made me uncomfortable."
Luster, 35, of Oak Drive, Moon, was charged Wednesday with the deaths of Christine A. Karcher, 35, of the Coraopolis area, and the couple's unborn son. Police believe Luster forced Karcher — who was 7 1 / 2 months pregnant — from the vehicle during a violent argument as the couple drove along Route 60 shortly after 2 a.m. Tuesday.
Karcher died from blunt force trauma to the neck, an injury state police believe was caused by a passing motorist whose car might may have hit Karcher while she was lying on the road. State Trooper John Fisanich said Thursday that police were still searching for the red Toyota Camry the couple were riding in. He also said it has not been determined whether charges would be filed against the motorist whose car hit Karcher.
Her death brought to an end an often tumultuous relationship with Luster — who Aimee Karcher said was the source of her sister's recent unhappiness.
"The only time she really talked about him was when she called me and she was upset," Karcher said. "He beat her up several times."
Aimee Karcher said she knows of at least three times when Luster hurt her sister, and after each time she told her to stop seeing him. But Christine didn't heed the advice, despite the fact that she still lived with a boyfriend of at least 10 years — Chester Bell. Christine Karcher also had an 11-year-old daughter — Gabrielle Pugliano — from a previous relationship, her sister said.
Bell — who Aimee Karcher said owned an auto shop in Stuebenville, Ohio, along with his father — couldn't be reached Thursday. She said her family considered him a brother-in-law, even though the couple was not married.
She said Bell knew of Karcher's relationship with Luster, and the couple often argued about it.
To Christine Karcher, Bell was a safety net — a nice, reliable, caring partner, Aimee Karcher said. But Luster shared other traits of Karcher's that satisfied a different part of her lifestyle, Aimee Karcher said.
"He drank and did things like that and that's what she did," Aimee Karcher said. "That's basically what their relationship was. It was partying."
Allegheny County Court documents show that Karcher was arrested four times in the early 1990s on a variety of drug-related and drinking charges but that her only conviction came when she entered a guilty plea to a disorderly conduct charge after an underage drinking episode.
Court documents show that since 1994 Luster has been convicted of various forgery, theft, receiving stolen property and conspiracy charges. He's awaiting trial on criminal trespass and assault charges after an Aug. 11 incident in Moon, where he allegedly barged into an apartment and punched a man inside.
In that case, a police report indicates Luster forced his way into a Delaware Drive apartment because he was tired of waiting for two people inside who reportedly were trying to buy marijuana from him. Luster is accused of punching one of the buyers — a man — in the face five times, according to the report.
What it all adds up to for Aimee Karcher is the loss of a sister who made her laugh, a sister who hoped to use tools she received as Christmas gifts to pursue a career as a plumber, a sister who moved to the Pittsburgh area for its people, its excitement away from rural life.
"She thought that's what she wanted," she said. "It just didn't work out for her."
A Mass of Christian Burial for Christine Karcher will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Aloysius Catholic Church in East Liverpool, Ohio.
Staff writer Robert Baird contributed to this story.
