Cache of weapons found in Lititz family's house includes three assault rifles, shotguns and handguns.
By Janet Kelley
Updated Feb 20, 2007 12:12
Police have charged the 18-year-old with shooting and killing his girlfriend’s parents on Sunday.
But investigators didn’t know just how many guns the young man had available to him until they searched his family’s Warwick Township home.
More than 50 weapons — including three assault rifles, plus numerous shotguns, handguns, rifles, scopes and bullets — were confiscated from the Ludwig home on Sunday, according to court documents.
The weapons were confiscated along with the young man’s computer, when detectives searched the Ludwig home at 422-A W. Orange St., Lititz.
Searching the suspect’s home was one of the first things police did after responding to the call to another Warwick Township residence on Sunday morning.
Inside that home, at 15 Royal Drive, Lititz, police found the bodies of Michael and Cathryn Borden, both 50. Both had been shot once in the head, police said.
But Ludwig and his girlfriend, the Borden’s 14-year-old daughter, Kara Beth, were nowhere to be found.
Police said the Bordens disapproved of their younger daughter dating Ludwig and had called him to their home around 7 a.m. Sunday to discuss the situation, after learning she had been out all night with him.
Neighbors said when Ludwig arrived, Michael Borden told him to leave a red duffel bag he was carrying outside.
The bag, neighbors said, contained several handguns and a knife.
Ludwig complied with the request, apparently, but allegedly had hidden another handgun inside his clothing.
At the end of the discussion, around 8 a.m., the Borden’s 15-year-old daughter, Katelyn, told police she saw Ludwig pull out a handgun and shoot her father.
Katelyn Borden ran for cover, police said, but heard a second shot followed by the sound of Ludwig calling for her sister.
By the time officers arrived, Katelyn Borden and her 11-year-old brother, David, had run to neighbors’ homes for help.
Police broadcast a national alert for Kara Beth Borden, Ludwig and the red Volkswagen he was driving.
On Monday afternoon, the car was stopped in Indiana. State troopers placed the young man under arrest and both he and Borden were flown back to Lancaster County on Tuesday.
Ludwig was placed in prison, she was turned over to family and friends.
Ludwig lived with his parents, who police said have been extremely cooperative with the investigation.
Police said nothing about the large cache of weapons, which numbered 54, that they confiscated from the Ludwig’s home.
Among the list of guns listed in the court document were three AR-15 rifles, commonly known as assault rifles, which are the civilian version of the U.S. military-issued weapons.
Several of the rifles and shotguns, some pump-action, had scope attachments and were in cases.
Police, who also confiscated numerous rounds of ammunition, did not say where in the home the guns were found.
Many of the weapons were handguns, according to the list, including several .22 caliber and .38 caliber Smith & Wesson handguns, several 9 mm Ruger pistols, a Taurus .357 caliber and a Glock .45 caliber handgun.
Friends have said that Ludwig and his family hunted. While police were searching for the missing teens, investigators mentioned that the family had suggested they look at their hunting cabin in Juniata County.
Ludwig’s parents, Gregory and Jane, issued a statement Wednesday, asking for prayers and apologizing for the incident.
“We are so truly sorry any of this has occurred, and are grateful for the great care being given to the Borden family,’’ the Ludwigs’ statement read.
“This town has suffered great tragedy,’’ the Ludwigs continued, asking the public to pray for “all who have been stunned by these events.’’
Ludwig’s father, friends said, is a pilot for a commercial airline and his mother home-schools her children, including the defendant.
Local defense attorneys, Deputy Public Defender Merrill Spahn and Assistant Public Defender James Gratton, announced that they would be representing Ludwig throughout the legal process.
Ludwig, who was described by Spahn as “scared, anxious and confused,” is in Lancaster County Prison where he will remain at least until the preliminary hearing.
Lancaster County District Attorney Donald Totaro said he would be prosecuting the case, along with Warwick Township Police Detective Lt. Ed Tobin, when it comes to court.
Spahn and Gratton officially made their representation of Ludwig known at a press briefing Wednesday afternoon outside the Lancaster County Office of the Public Defender.
“Over the coming days, we will strive to determine what, in fact, occurred last Sunday morning and what may have led to these tragic events,” Spahn said.
The defense attorneys said they have met with Ludwig and members of his family.
“They are supportive of David,” Spahn said. “At this time, the concerns and thoughts of the Ludwig family are with the Borden family, their own family and everyone who has been touched by this tragedy.”
The Ludwig also said in their prepared statement, “Living inside the devastation of this unimaginably horrible week, no words can adequately express the sorrow, shock and senselessness of what we are all experiencing.”
In asking that the media respect their privacy, the Ludwigs’ statement requests that both families need to “privately process events which challenged everything about us.’’
“Please understand that rampant curiosity only hinders the good efforts of the authorities and those helping us sort the pieces of our shattered lives,’’ the statement continued.
Spahn said the investigation into what happened is not over.
“There are a multitude of witnesses yet to be interviewed,” Spahn said. “David Ludwig is presumed to be innocent of these allegations, and he remains such.
“Until four days ago, he was an 18-year-old young man, not unlike any other 18-year-old man here in Lancaster County. Over the last four days, he has been subjected to a nationwide manhunt and mass media scrutiny. Currently, his condition is that he is physically sound, but understandably scared, anxious and confused.”
Kara Beth Borden also has an attorney looking out for her legal interests.
Lancaster attorney Robert D. Beyer said he met with Borden, her family and court-appointed guardian on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“I think she’s scared and still in shock,” Beyer said.
“She’s not a defendant,’’ Beyer emphasized, “she’s a victim.”
Beyer explained that although his law firm, Goldberg, Knisely & Beyer, handles a large amount of criminal defense work, “we represent victims all the time.”
“Everybody — the government, the district attorney, the family and her court-appointed guardian — everybody wants to make sure she is protected as a victim and as a witness, and particularly, as a child,” Beyer said. “They are taking all the precautionary measures necessary to insulate her from the onslaught of the media.”
In addition to the three children at home, the Bordens had two sons, both in their 20s. James Borden reportedly is in graduate school in Chicago, while the other adult son, Justin, is stationed with the military in Maryland, having returned recently from Iraq.
At a prayer service Wednesday at the Monterey Chapel in Leola, where the Borden family were members, friends prayed for the Borden children and for the forgiveness of Ludwig.
More than 100 people gathered for about two hours inside the Borden family’s home church — a simple chapel with just 24 pews — where members learned of the couple’s death during Sunday morning services.
A funeral for the Bordens will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at Good Shepherd Chapel at Lancaster Bible College, 901 Eden Road.
(Staff writer John M. Hoober III contributed to this report).
