By Brett Lovelace
Updated Oct 03, 2008 11:08
Jesse Dee Wise Jr. strangled his 64-year-old grandmother with telephone wire and used her credit card to buy new clothes at two East Lampeter Township stores, police allege in court documents released Friday.
Police have completed their weeklong forensic analysis of the Leola home where Wise, 21, allegedly killed six relatives and are focused on establishing a motive and timeline for the crimes.
It also appears Wise fought with his victims, police said.
More than a dozen knives, a hammer, a 17-inch-long metal club wrapped in a bloody towel, two computers, clothing and cords were confiscated from the 81 E. Main St. home since the bodies were discovered April 12.
The shopping spree funded by the stolen credit card could provide investigators with a motive for the slayings.
"Jesse Dee Wise Jr. took and used credit cards and or money of his victims after their death to purchase items and services as he continued to live in his home," East Lampeter Township police Detective Joseph Edgell wrote in an affidavit.
Gateway and Hewlett Packard computers were confiscated from the bedroom Wise shared with Jesse James Wise, 17.
"A search of the computer will assist in establishing the last time that the computer was used by Jesse James Wise and any communications he may have had and thus help investigators reconstruct a time line of when his and the other murders took place," state police Trooper Mark A. Magyar wrote in a search warrant.
Jessie Lee Wise Sr., 64, who was in New York on business April 8 and 9 when police believe the slayings occurred, told state police Cpl. Adam Kosheba his grandson often used the computer in the shared bedroom.
"The accused would have used this computer to communicate with friends and relatives concerning the events leading up to the murders," Magyar writes. "It is also likely that the accused visited one or more Internet sites on how to commit and or conceal murder."
The court documents also revealed new details about how Wise killed his family.
Lancaster County Forensic Pathologist Dr. Wayne Ross performed autopsies April 13.
Ross determined Jesse James Wise was strangled and stabbed with three different knives including a "double-bladed" knife.
Chance Wise, 5, was strangled with an electrical cord, which police found wrapped around his neck.
Emily J. Wise, the grandmother, and Agnes Arlene Wise, 43, were strangled or choked.
Wanda Wise, 45, and Skyler Wise, 19, were beaten to death.
Knives possibly used in the slayings were confiscated from kitchen drawers. The cutlery ranged from filet knives to large cutting knives.
After the killings, Wise used the credit card at Burlington Coat Factory and Wal-Mart.
Police found bags from the stores and 12 articles of clothing with sales tags still attached in Wise's second-floor bedroom.
When Wise was being processed at the Lancaster County Prison, corrections officer Sgt. Benjamin Wise found a credit card with Emily Wise's name on it.
The clothes Wise was wearing when taken into police custody a short time after the bodies were discovered also were taken to be tested for DNA evidence.
Wise was photographed by police 50 times while in prison. The images are being reviewed to identify any bruises, abrasions and lacerations that could prove Wise fought with his victims.
A funeral for the six victims was held Wednesday night in Brooklyn, N.Y. More than 1,100 people attended the service. Burial is scheduled for today in Danville, Va.