Man Admits to Beating Elderly Mennonite Sisters

Man accused of shocking, beating and robbing sisters, ages 84 to 90

A man pleaded guilty today to a violent attack against three elderly Mennonite sisters inside their home.

The Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era reports Dereck Taylor Holt, 22, said in court Thursday that a prescription drug addiction is to blame and that the attack wasn't motivated by ethnic hatred.

Holt apologized and said he's "not a heartless being" and that he couldn't defend his actions. 

"This was the culmination of a long, two-year addiction to substances," he said, according to the paper. "These actions wouldn't have happened without my alarming abuse of mind-altering prescription medication."

He pleaded guilty to multiple counts of robbery, aggravated assault and other counts.

Authorities say Holt pretended to be an insurance salesman to get inside the the Clay Township home of the sisters, who range in age from 85 to 91, in December. Once inside, Holt bound the victims, hit them with a stun gun and sprayed the home with household chemicals.

"They suffered multiple electrical shocks, were incapacitated and left," Northern Lancaster County Regional Police Chief David Steffen told Lancaster Online at the time of the incidents. "They were unable to move for a long period of time. That could have led to bad things like blood clots and positional asphyxia."

Investigators initially believed it was a targeted crime, but charges of ethnic intimidation were later dropped.

Sentencing isn't expected for several months.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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