Arthur "A.B" Schirmer

Cases such as this one always seem questionable. It always comes down to if someone had gotten away with murder, in this case twice, or if something else in their life that triggered the re-investigations had put an innocent person in jail. When it comes to this particular case, as is the case with many like it, it appears that an inadequate investigation initially allowed a murderer to get away. And, since the case of Arthur Schirmer involved the deaths of two wives people believe if the investigation into the death of his first wife had been done correctly his second wife would have never lost her life.

Reality of it is that Arthur Schirmer's profession is what likely allowed him to get away. Arthur was a Methodist minister. Many times investigators do not like to think that “men of the cloth” will lie or give false testimony, especially if the person has been able to hide many aspects of their lives and has many people vouching for their character. A minister generally has a congregation of people who obviously only see him in the aspects of his job but believe that to be the true person. This does not mean that every minister is sinister, as the prosecution in this case dubbed Arthur Schirmer, but it also shows that not all ministers are law abiding, good citizens. As a true crime reader I am sure you can likely name several cases in which ministers or those very involved in their church have been convicted of very serious crimes, including murder. But, again, I believe that in general investigators do not like to think badly of people in these positions.

Arthur had been married to his first wife, Jewel for over thirty years when he claimed on April 23, 1999 he had returned to their Lebanon Pennsylvania home to find her at the bottom of the basement steps in a pool of blood. Arthur would tell investigators that he had gone out for a jog only to come home and find his wife. An extension cord apparently connected to the vacuum was wrapped around Jewel's leg. Arthur told investigators that when he had left that Jewel was intending to vacuum animal hair from the steps. Jewel would die the following day at the hospital. It appears that there were a few questions in the beginning as to if her injuries were consistent with the fall but then her organs were examined for possible transplants. A cardiologist believed that she had suffered a massive heart attack and that helped apparently to convince authorities that the death was in fact an accident, likely due to the heart attack.

Not long after Jewel's death it seems that Arthur would not only move out of the home but he would also move to being the minister of another church. In 2001 he would marry his second wife, Betty. On July 15, 2008 a 911 would be made to have police respond to an accident in the middle of the night. The vehicle involved would belong to Betty and Arthur Schirmer and they would be the occupants. Arthur would claim that Betty had awoken him in the middle of the night complaining of jaw pain and he was taking her to the local hospital. He stated that while driving Betty had unbuckled her seat belt to readjust in the seat and at that moment a deer had run out into the roadway. Arthur claims that he had swerved to miss the deer and hit a guardrail, sending Betty into the windshield. Just as Jewel had done, Betty would die the following day at the hospital. While it seemed that a few people were suspicious of the circumstances, it too initially was listed as an accident.

Then in October of 2008 a man named Joseph Musante would commit suicide in Arthur's office at his church. There never seemed to be a question as to the manner of death but there was still an investigation it seems. Joseph Musante's wife, Cynthia had been Arthur's personal secretary for a few months before he was found by another employee in the office.

Research is a little sketchy as to if it was this incident that triggered a re-investigation into Betty's death or if that would come later. Some information says that simply the investigation into the suicide of Musante had cause authorities to look back at Betty's case; other information says a letter sent to authorities by Joseph Musante's sister was what triggered the look; while still others say that it was not until 2010 when Cynthia and Joseph's daughter, Samantha contacted authorities that Betty's case was re-opened. Maybe it was a combination of all three things since despite the other things mentioned most things indicate that the case got a new look in 2010.

It was discovered that Arthur was having an affair with Cynthia Musante and hence this was the motivation behind her husband's suicide just a few months after Betty Schirmer had alleged accidentally died in the car accident. It was alleged that Joseph Musante had discovered the affair and while Cynthia had vowed to end it he had learned that it had continued. In fact, it continued even after his death. By January of 2010 Arthur was living with Cynthia. Whether he had still remained a minister is not exactly clear but it does not seem likely for a few reasons. He would later be described as a “retired” minister and I would gander to guess since there were reports that before his suicide Joseph Musante had contacted higher ups in the church about the affair and then his subsequent suicide, that a deal was made to avoid a complete scandal. A few months after he moved in with Cynthia and her children Samantha Musante turned eighteen and moved out of the home. It appears that she had a strained relationship with her mother at that time but they were on the mend a few months later when Cynthia told Samantha that Arthur had given her a ring and they were engaged. It was said that it was at this point that Samantha called authorities because she feared for her mother. Samantha was suspicious that Betty Schirmer had died, then her father committed suicide and that all of this had occurred during the time that Arthur and Cynthia were having the affair.

Initially just the case of Betty's death was reopened. Again, like Jewel's death there seemed to be some questions as to whether the injuries that Betty had sustained matched the story that was being told as to what happened. Reconstruction was done and investigators came to believe that there was no way that the injuries Betty suffered to her head could have come from the supposed impact of the vehicle with the guardrail. One can only assume this reconstruction not only took Arthur's recollection of how fast he was going at the time of impact but also took in consideration any damage to the car as well as any injuries he may have suffered, although it appears that if he was injured at all it was minimal. The reconstruction determined that the car was going less than twenty-five miles per hour and that was too slow to cause the injuries that Betty suffered.

The re-investigation also looked at the home that the couple had shared and a luminol test was done on the home, including the garage. Investigators would say that Betty's blood would be found in the garage of the home. Prosecutors would later use this finding to theorize that Betty had actually been attacked in this area of the house, likely with a crowbar, and placed in the car and then the accident was staged. Betty's body had been cremated fairly quickly (Jewel's may have been also but I cannot confirm) so the only records that they had were those that had been made at the time of her death.

*** I want to make a note here that I have found issues with just when Arthur's trial and conviction in Betty's case took place. I have found two sites, both seemingly respectable, with a different year. However I have chosen to use the year of 2013 because other evidence and articles seemed help determine this. I attempted to search the Pennsylvania Department of Correction's website to help but the information they provide did not help.***

When Arthur was charged with the first degree murder of Betty and a charge of tampering with evidence authorities in the nearby county, where Jewel had died, had decided to re-open Jewel's death also. Arthur would face a trial in Betty's murder in January of 2013. Arthur's daughters stood by him and supported him, but so did Cynthia, who now went by the last name of Moyer. It was said that they still considered themselves to be engaged. Cynthia testified that she put $600 a month in Arthur's jail account and that he called her every night from prison. She also testified that she believed “100%” in his innocence. The prosecution told their theory Betty being hit with the crowbar in the garage, explaining the blood found. The defense would argue (it seems Arthur must have testified but that is not completely clear) that the blood had been a result of an injury Betty had received long prior to her death when the couple was moving a wood pile and Betty had scraped her arm. It was not clear as to just how much blood had been found to account for either case.

An issue that would later be brought up in an appeal, although it failed, was the fact of Jewel's death. The defense would later argue that Jewel's death, in which by the time of trial he had been charged with, should not have been mentioned considering especially that there had been no trial or conviction at that point. But, it was mentioned and whether that alone could have or did taint the jury is unclear. One could argue that for someone to have two wives die in supposed accidents is suspicious, and I have to agree with that, but in the same respect I am unsure that I could ever say that every case of such would be murder. Do not take this opinion of mine to believe that I think Arthur was innocent in either death, I just feel to make a blanket statement would be a wrong thing to do considering accidents do actually happen and every case is different.

The jury would find Arthur Schirmer guilty in the first degree murder of his second wife, Betty, and with the tampering of evidence. The latter charge is likely due to the fact of the alleged staging of the auto accident. In March of 2013 he would be sentenced to life without parole.

At the end of his trial Arthur knew he was to face another one soon in the other county that had charged him with the death of his first wife, Jewel. In 2014 he decided to plead “no contest” for the charge of third degree murder, still however, maintaining his innocence. For that case he would receive a sentence of 20-40 years which would run concurrent (meaning together) with the life sentence he had earlier received. Experts had apparently determined that yes, Jewel had suffered from a heart attack, but they concluded that the heart attack had been brought on by the brain trauma she had received. They also determined that the injuries to her head had not come from the fall but more likely from trauma she received from another object.

Later in 2014 the defense in this case filed an appeal with the courts that was later denied. In 2017 a new appeal was filed and the defense asked for a new trial citing ineffective counsel and prosecutorial misconduct. The latter was a claim about the evidence of the blood in the garage and how it was presented as well as once again arguing that the death of Jewel, as well as the affair with Cynthia should not have been entered into the trial.

As I stated earlier I went to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections website, as I almost always do in cases that I research, but little information could be gathered. There was no indication as to whether Arthur will ever have a parole hearing. That is determined on just what “life” means and every state is different. In some states “life” means just that while in other states it can be a determined amount of years. The idea of not having parole simply means they are not eligible until the “life” term is served.