‘He was literally on his knees, and the guy just kept shooting’

Preliminary hearing testimony sheds light on case that could use state’s castle doctrine

When Adam Schultz and his girlfriend, Chasity Frailey, entered an unlocked building off Route 447 in Stroud Township on Jan. 19, the couple believed it abandoned.

Inside, photos of the scene show, the space was packed wall to wall with trash, trophies, VHS tapes, electronics, cans of food, dirty dishes and clothing. Frailey told police that she and 20-yearold Schultz found the building unlocked and called out to see if anyone was inside, but they were met with silence.

“I didn’t know anybody could live like that,” Frailey said. “How do you not hear anybody or say hello or answer me? If we knew someone was in there, we would have left.”

The pair had no idea that 66-year-old Randy Halterman was inside until he allegedly opened fire from behind a dark curtain. Halterman is accused of killing Schultz, who pleaded for his life, and wounding Frailey, who hid beneath her boyfriend’s body to escape further harm.

“Adam put his hands up and he said, ‘Please stop. We didn’t know anybody was here. We said hello, we knocked. We don’t have any weapons.’ He was literally on his knees, and the guy just kept shooting,” an emotional Frailey said during an interview with police. “He fell over and he said, ‘Babe, my heart. Help.’ I didn’t even know what to do.”

These details, released during Halterman’s March 3 preliminary hearing on charges of homicide and attempted homicide, shed more light on a case that the Monroe County district attorney’s office said has raised questions about the meanings of self-defense and the state’s castle

doctrine.

District Judge Michael Muth determined there was enough evidence presented by prosecutors to send the case to Monroe County Court.

Michael Mancuso, first assistant district attorney, explained in a news release that whether Halterman’s case is one that evokes the castle doctrine is a question for a trial judge and, ultimately, a jury. In Pennsylvania, that doctrine falls within the law of self-defense, and can be used as a justification for deadly force if a resident is in fear of death or serious harm after someone “unlawfully or forcefully” enters their home.

Halterman’s preliminary hearing was held virtually and spanned four hours. Detectives investigating the case testified, as did Frailey, after being called on by Halterman’s attorney, Gerald Brunell.

During Frailey’s interview with police following the shooting, she explained that she and her boyfriend were walking home after dropping off applications for jobs in the area. On a whim, she said, they decided to go exploring, curious about a vacant-looking building they’d passed many times.

Frailey said they never saw Halterman and he never answered their calls, even as they rummaged through the building for about 20 minutes. It wasn’t until they ventured up a flight of stairs that they noticed a gun poking out from behind a dark curtain. When shots rang out, Frailey said Schultz shoved her out of the way, saving her from a more serious bullet wound.

But the two of them tripped and fell down the stairs as they tried to leave the home crammed with garbage. Halterman was at the top, shining a flashlight on them, she said.

That’s when Frailey said that she and Schultz tried to plead for mercy, telling Halterman that they had not taken anything, had no weapons and had a 1-year-old daughter at home.

When asked by police why he kept firing on the pair even after they had surrendered, Halterman said he wanted “closure” and couldn’t let them get away because he didn’t trust the system, authorities testified.

Frailey told police that after Schultz collapsed from his injury, Halterman shot him again.

“I stayed quiet. I covered my mouth. I was right by Adam and he had me trapped by my feet, so I just hid,” she said. “He was going to shoot me if I wasn’t hiding, before he called the cops.”

When Frailey heard Halterman call 911, she yelled for help. Halterman told her to shut up, she said. When police came she screamed to them for help and only then began to realize she’d also been wounded.

“I had felt a pinch before and got shaky,” she said. “But I didn’t even know I had gotten shot until the cops got there because I was afraid to look.”

Muth said he found Frailey’s testimony to be very consistent with what she said during her interview with police. He said he also felt that even if the castle doctrine were applied in the case, the prosecution had overcome the presumption that Halterman was acting out of fear for his life.

The mindset of seeking closure, the judge determined, was not evidence of self-defense, but of murder.

Halterman will face trial in the case in county court, unless he pleads guilty or there’s some other resolution in the case.