Dereck Holt used a stun gun-like device when he allegedly tortured three elderly sisters last month in what police have called an act of rage against the Mennonite community.

If Holt's father had not intervened, however, the victims might have been staring down the barrel of a gun.

According to documents filed Friday by Lititz police, Holt was in possession of a .22-caliber handgun on Dec. 13, the day before the women were assaulted in their home on Indiantown Road in Clay Township.

Holt's father, Dennis Mearig, took the gun from his son and hid it, a move that sparked an argument between the two later that night at a Lititz eatery.

"He didn't know his son to own a gun and didn't know why he would have one or where he got it," Lititz Borough police Officer Christopher Kelley said Wednesday.

"I think he was just trying to look out for (Holt)," Kelley added. "To him, there was no good reason for his son to have a gun."

Kelley said Holt, 22, made no threats to use the weapon.

Mearig turned over the gun to Lititz police around 8 p.m. on Dec. 14, several hours after the women were assaulted. Police arrested Holt the following day.

Kelley said Mearig contacted police  before his son was tied to the assault.

"We can speculate all day about what might've happened if (Holt) had the gun  (Dec. 14)," Kelley said. "We don't know what he had planned."

Authorities later discovered that the gun Holt had in his possession had been reported stolen from a man in Arizona.

Holt, who lived with his mother in Arizona for several years, recently moved back to the Lancaster area to be near his father.

During an interview with police on Dec. 18, Holt admitted he stole the gun and brought it to Pennsylvania, according to a criminal complaint.

He is charged with receiving stolen property and firearms not to be carried without a license. He was arraigned by District Judge Tony Russell, who set bail at $25,000.

Holt remains in Lancaster County Prison in lieu of $1 million bail on charges stemming from the Dec. 14 assault. He is facing numerous charges, including aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, ethnic intimidation and unlawful restraint.

Holt allegedly posed an an insurance salesman to gain entry to the sisters' home between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m.

Once inside, he allegedly punched them and shocked them with a stun gun before tying them up and gagging them with duct tape. A family member found the women several hours later.

All three were hospitalized after the incident. Officials said one woman had a fractured shoulder and a brain bleed, and another had suffered a heart attack.

During the two-hour assault on the women, Holt allegedly told them he had once been a member of the Mennonite faith and said he now had anger toward members of that community.

In a phone interview last month, Hannah Holt said her brother had never been of the Mennonite faith and described him as a person who wanted "everything to be good for everyone."

She said he had no adverse feelings toward any religion and said he didn't judge anyone on their beliefs.
jtodd@lnpnews.com