Night With an Alleged Murderer

Man who housed Mark Geisenheyner the day after the alleged murderer shot five people, killing a toddler and a man, tells his side of the story

Gary Krobath realized Mark Geisenheyner was “a crazy maniac” 10 years ago when they worked on the same landscaping crew.

But any efforts Krobath took to distance himself were for naught Sunday when the alleged murderer came over to his house and laughed about shooting a house full of people.

The Philadelphia Inquirer sat down with one of the last men to see the assumed murderer alive. Krobath told his story of the terrifying hours he spent with Geisenheyner before finally able to break away and alert police to the fact that he had a double murderer in his home.

"I knew for the last 15 months he was going to rob this guy Paul," Krobath told the Inquirer. "He said he was going to kill him in front of his wife so that she would be scared and give him the money [he owed him from an alleged insurance scam]."

“This Paul guy” Krobath is referring to is 64-year-old Paul Shay of New York, N.Y. On Saturday night, police say Geisenheyner walked into Shay’s vacation home in Douglass Township and shot Shay and four other people, including a 2-year-old.

The execution-style shootings in each victim’s head killed Shay's nephew, 43-year-old Joseph Shay of Yarmouth, Mass. and New York City, and the toddler of Joseph Shay's girlfriend, 2-year-old Gregory Bosco Erdmann.

Paul Shay, 64, his wife Monica, 58, and Joseph Shay’s girlfriend Kathrynn Erdmann, 37, of Fall River, Mass., were left critically injured as Geisenheyner fled, later ending up at Krobath’s house in Trainer, Pa.

"He told me he was going to go down in a blaze of glory,” Krobath told the Inquirer.

When Geisenheyner called Krobath and then showed up at his house, the first thing he did was turn on the radio and make him listen to a news report on KYW about the Douglass Township murders.

"That was the dude Paul I told you about," Geisenheyner said, and then laughed, Krobath told the Inquirer. "It went totally wrong. I was killing everybody."

The next 17 hours consisted of Krobath trying to act normal as Geisenheyner tagged along with Krobath and his wife to the local fireworks, insinuated that he had to kill a woman who knew about the murders, and warned Krobath if anything happens he and his wife should “get in a corner.”
When Geisenheyner finally fell asleep in Krobath’s spare bedroom, Krobath sent his wife to a neighbor’s house and called 911.

Police came and a six-hour standoff began, ending with Geisenheyner killed by a police bullet, lying in a pool of blood in Krobath’s basement.

For the full Inquirer interview click here.

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