Carbon County man charged with fatally shooting wife during argument

A Carbon County man told state police he thought a handgun was unloaded before fatally shooting his wife during an argument Monday afternoon, according to court records.

Keith Robert Else, 38, was charged with criminal homicide and reckless endangerment and was sent to Carbon County jail without bail following his arraignment Tuesday morning before District Judge William Kissner.

State police allege Else shot his wife, Laura Jean Else, 31, during an argument over money at their home in Lower Towamensing Township. She was flown to St. Luke’s University Hospital in Fountain Hill but died from her injuries, police said. The Lehigh County coroner’s office said Tuesday that Laura Else died of a gunshot wound and ruled her death a homicide.

According to court records: Else called 911 to report that his wife had been shot. State police from the Lehighton barracks responded about 12:40 p.m. to the home in the 3900 block of

Forest Inn Road, where the couple lived with three children.

Police found Else sitting in the backyard and took him to the barracks to be interviewed. Court records say he gave different versions of the events leading up to the shooting.

Else told investigators he and his wife were arguing about money. The family was experiencing financial trouble and needed to find a new place to live, court records say.

Else told investigators that he and Laura Else hit each other during the argument, according to court records.

He said he picked up a handgun from an ammunition container in the living room, where he placed the gun because he wanted Laura Else to sell it. He said he noticed the magazine was not fully inserted and removed it before racking the handgun’s slide to eject a cartridge from the chamber. He said he then tried to hand the gun to Laura Else, but it fired and the bullet hit her, according to court records.

Police interviewed two of the children in the house but they were upstairs when the shot was fired, court records say.

Police obtained a warrant and searched the house. They found the locations of items, including the magazine and the unfired cartridge, were inconsistent with Else’s statement.

Investigators interviewed Else again and he admitted to lying, court records say.

Else said rather than removing the magazine from the gun, he pushed it in and racked the weapon to put a cartridge in the chamber before holding it to his head and threatening to shoot himself. He said he then removed the magazine and thought the gun was unloaded as he approached Laura Else, court records say.

He told police Laura Else was standing with her back to a wall. Hesaid his left handwasonLaura Else’s shoulder andthe gunwasin his right hand with his finger on the trigger. Police said he denied threatening Laura Else with the gun and claimed he was trying to hug her but could not explain why he pointed the weapon at her.