Husband ‘snapped,’ detective testifies
After shooting wife, officer says, defendant poured a drink and shot her again
In the early morning hours of July 4, Edgar Himel told investigators, he “snapped” during an argument with his wife in their Palmer Township home, then grabbed a gun from his nightstand.
Himel, 80, told police during a July 24 interview that he shot his wife, Penny Van-Tassel-Himel, once in the head and left the room to pour himself a drink. When he returned to the bedroom, he said he heard his wife moaning, and he shot her again before fleeing to Colorado.
“After firing the first shot, Himel told me he had a feeling of ‘What have I done?’” Palmer Detective James Taylor, the lead investigator in the homicide, testified Monday.
After a two-hour preliminary hearing with testimony from several officers, Northampton County District Judge Jacque
line Taschner ruled there was enough evidence for the case to proceed to county court.
Himel, who was arrested July 13 in Colorado and then extradited back to Pennsylvania, is charged with homicide and with stealing his wife’s vehicle after the killing.
Sometime on July 4, authorities say Van-Tassel-Himel was able to call 911 for help, but officers failed to make contact with her. An internal investigation into the actions of those two officers remains ongoing, said Palmer police Chief Larry Palmer.
Officers who responded flashed a light at a man inside the home without making contact, and authorities are investigating if the officers followed protocol by reporting the home secure without contacting anyone in it.
Van-Tassel-Himel’s body was found several days later, on July 7, when she failed to show up for church. Palmer Township officer David Lembach testified he was one of the first officers on the scene that day and smelled a “foul odor” coming from the home that he knew was decomposition.
Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli said Monday his office is still awaiting the results of the internal investigation.
Van-Tassel-Himel’s sister, Nona Edwards Thomas, was one of several relatives who attended Monday’s hearing. She said her sister and Himel had been married for 10 years.
“I have known Edgar Himel for 36 years and I’m surprised this happened,” Edwards Thomas said.
She declined to comment on the internal investigation of the officers, but previously said she suspected the officers did not follow the department’s policy.
Northampton County Assistant District Attorney Abe Kassis, the lead prosecutor in the case, said Monday it was too early to determine if Himel could face the death penalty in the slaying.