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Ex-boyfriend arrested ...— Continued from Page Page 1and the hidden key was found outside the house with Gates’ blood on it, The key was not close to where the victim was attacked or traveled during the attack, police said.While Gates had a long-term relationship with 31-year-old Burke t, they had apparently parted for a short period in fall 1999, and this is when Gates met Ebersole.Police said interviews with Gates’ friends and family “provided information that the relationship between Gates and Ebersole consisted of meeting at the bar (Glenn’s Place, where Gatesreportedly played darts), and Ebersole would occasionally return home with Gates to watch TV.“Gates told a number of persons she did not want a relationship with Ebersole, She stated that she did not like Ebersole because he was 'too young, not mature, and Cordell liked Cordell.* .Mice Gates, Dana’s mother, stated that Ebersole wanted a relationship with Dana, and he often commented that Dana was pretty and expressed his desire to have a relationship with her,” the police affidavit said.Those interviews yielded information that Ebersole “started showing up at locations where he expected Dana to be, including Sunday family dinners, “and Dana was upset by this, stating that she wished he would go away.” Regarding meeting at Glenn’s Place, police said Ebersole had referred to Gates as “a barfly” and “a real bad flirt.” In later interviews, he denied he had said those things.Ebersole said he had stayed at Gates’ house two or three times a week, but others said that was unlikely, including the victim’s mother who lived there at the time Ebersole said this happened.Police said they asked Ebersole what he felt had happened, and he had said “someone from the bar got mad over something that had been going on for some time. Dana could piss someone off easily.” He was also quoted, “When you live that life style, this is what happens.”Gates was employed as an administrative assistant with Allegheny Lutheran Social Min-istries/Headstart in Bedford for several years, and some of those interviewed said Ebersole would call or send flowers and she did not like this. A co-worker said Gates told Ebersole on the phone that she was happy with her renewed relationship with Burket,v: ' .' V: ■::'•!i:: :lt;v‘ ■:•:■.*• •.. . * . a•; . -.v.s-v*- .j; - vs * •-• • • V«-.* A •lt;The former home of Dana Gates sits covered in snow, more than 14 months after she was killed there and her fiance severely beaten.“Just leave me alone. I don’t want this,” Gates was quoted as saying.He denied that she told him to stop calling her at work, but then said she had because of a change in the phone system. Police said that system change occurred before they met.The affidavit tells of Ebersole showing up at other locations and calling her into mid-2001.“She told both her mother and sister about Cordell being at the house, waiting for her to return home from darts. She was upset about this for some time,” police said in the affidavit, which also states that Ebersole has denied this occurred.In January 2001, Gates apparently called a friend about 2:30 a.m. and told that person that Ebersole was in her residence when she returned from a dart tournament. She told him to leave or she would call police. He did, but later returned. She told him not to have any other contact with her or her family because she was going to renew her relationship with Burket. Ebersole, the friend said, threatened to beat up Burket.“According to this friend, Dana was physically afraid of Cordell. She was afraid that he would show up and no one would know. Dana called Cordell a stalker, relating that he follower her around and was calling her,” the affidavit said.A person described as an exgirlfriend of Ebersole’s said he visited her at work one morning and told her he was upset with Gates because she was seeing someone else, that he felt Gates and Burketwould get back together and that Gates was “using him (Ebersole) to make Lorin jealous because he would not set a wedding date.”Ebersole apparently learned in August 2001 that Gates and Burket were engaged, and in October or November 2001, that Alice Gates had moved out of the Kim-mel Township house, which is a family owned home, and that Burket had moved in.Ebersole himself had started another relationship in early 2001, and married a former Everett resident in August 2002.Police said Ebersole contended that he had not called or visited Gates after February 2001, but police found his phone number on her caller ID and on his phone bill as late as October 2001. He said he didn’t remember if or why he had called her.Police said Ebersole said his relationship with Gates had ended in March 2000. But police said they found records of 392 calls between the two after that date.The affidavit, signed by state police Cpl. Roger Smith and Craig Grassmyer, also stated that Ebersole said “Dana liked to play head games and she drug him through the dirt a lot. After awhile he had enough, Btating 'this is it.’ It was really hard emotionally and mentally. But he dealt with it and was glad he got over it.”Police said in the affidavit, “Dana’s friends attempted to talk her into getting some type of court order or PFA (protection from abuse) against Cordell. Dana was reluctant to pursue this advice,stating that she could handle the situation.”Community glad of arrest, question timeCLAYSBURG — Several people living near the area where Dana Gates was murdered and Lorin Burket severely beaten had two reactions Tuesday: They were glad an arrest had been made and they felt it took a long time to make that arrest.Larry and Roberta Barnes live two doors from the scene of the crime. Roberta said Tuesday, “It makes me feel a little bit safer to know they’ve been caught.” Her husband said, “I’m glad they found him. It took long enough.”: Allen Knisely, who lives on Beaver Dam Road not far from its intersection with SehellsburgRoad where the crimes occurred in Kixnmel Township, said the crimes had shaken up the small community.“Here, nobody locked their door. The doors were locked after that. My reaction was it took them too long to arrest him. They must have some pretty good evidence toward it ” Knisely said.A Queen resident who declined to be identified said he was glad of the arrest. “I hope they make it stick,” he said.District Attorney Dwight Diehl said he was “happy for the family especially, and that the public now has cause to breathe a little easier.”State police said during a news conference in Bedford Tuesday that they had made additional patrols in the crime scene area during their investigation. “There have been concerns about the whole family,” said'Tpr. Craig Grassmyer.Police said they were also concerned about the safety — “nothing we can go into” — of Burket, who survived the aWg^k, but apparently reraembefsmpthing about what happened. Pouci'have not said where he is. He apparently underwent rehabilitatioikjafter lengthy treatment of head injuries.
Newspaper Details
Bedford Inquirer
Bedford, Pennsylvania, US
Fri, Feb 21, 2003
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Amy B.
USA 07 Aug 2020
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