Greencastle woman killed in home
By PAT FRIDGEN Echo Pilot

PAUL GILBERT DEVOE III

A Greencastle woman was the final victim of an apparent six-person killing spree that began Friday in Texas. Betty Jane Dehart, 81, 15349 North Young Road, is believed to have died of a single gunshot wound to the head over the weekend.

Pennsylvania State Police from the Chambersburg Barracks were alerted at 3 p.m. Monday, Aug. 27, to a possible connection between Dehart and fugitive Paul Gilbert Devoe III, who had just been arrested in Shirley, N.Y. Acar at the scene with Pennsylvania license plates was traced to Dehart.

PSP Trooper Ed Asbury said the United States Marshal Service called and asked them to check on the welfare of Dehart. Officers found her deceased in her home.

Police then called in Fire Police, the Franklin County Coroner, the Rescue Hose Company Medic Unit and PSP investigative teams. Those officers collected evidence and took photographs. They mapped and pinpointed the location of the car Devoe left at the home, should a reconstruction of the crime scene be required later.

Dehart's body was taken to Lehigh Medical Center in Allentown, where a forensic pathologist would perform an autopsy to determine time and cause of death.

Betty Dehart lived in this home on Young Road, now surrounded by police tape.

A 2001 white Saturn station wagon with Texas plates was impounded. Asbury said after processing, it would likely be held until its owners claimed it.

Fire police Jeff Alleman, Warren Miller and Roger Johns, Greencastle, and John Howe, Marion, began arriving at 5:15 p.m. to block the entrance to Young Road from Hykes Road. They did not allow anyone to pass unless they lived on the road. As of 9 p.m. they had not received many inquiries from the public questioning their presence. They acknowledged most people were unaware of the murder.

Investigators were at the house until nearly midnight, and the property remained secured for much of Tuesday. Franklin County Deputy Coroner Thomas Bigler stood watch in the morning to make sure no one crossed the police line.

Jeffrey Conner, Franklin County Coroner, could not be reached for comment.

The trail from Texas

In a press release Monday the US Marshals Service stated that Devoe, 43, was arrested by the New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force after a brief standoff that afternoon at a house under surveillance. Devoe was in possession of a handgun.

Devoe's first alleged murder occurred at 6 p.m. Friday when he shot Michael Allred, 41, in Marble Falls, Texas. According to published reports, witnesses said Allred, a bartender, intervened when Devoe attempted to shoot two different women in the bar. The women escaped unharmed.

On Sunday four bodies were discovered in a home outside Austin. A vehicle belonging to one of the victims was missing. Numerous law enforcement agencies combined forces and determined Devoe may have fled for his home state of New York. The Lone Star Fugitive Task Force contacted the NY/NJ RFTF for assistance Sunday. Devoe was caught Monday.

The United States Marshal for the Western District of Texas, LaFayette Collins said, "The unspeakable tragedies that have unfolded over this last weekend are unconscionable. Our condolences go out to the family members who have lost loved ones. I am thankful for the quick and dedicated response by the law enforcement community in taking Devoe in to custody before he was able to commit even more heinous crimes."

The press release did not name the other victims, but the Austin (Texas) Statesman identified them as Paula Griffith, a former girlfriend, her daughter Hailey, 15, Danielle Hensley, 17, and Jay Felton, 48. Griffith's 2001 Saturn station wagon was missing.

Devoe had been charged with murder and a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution on Friday.

Asbury said PSP and the district attorney's office will file charges for Dehart's murder.

Young Road was quiet on Tuesday morning. The five homes on the secluded tree-lined lane showed no signs of the heinous crime that had occurred a day or two before. Except for the yellow police tape that circled Dehart's trailer home and lawn. Her view to the front was Interstate 81, the highway that likely brought the killer to her door.