SAEGERTOWN — “I can’t go on,” a tearful Patricia M. Oliver sobbed to family members after she was ordered held for trial in Crawford County Court of Common Pleas on a charge of criminal homicide.

Oliver, 53, of 16782 S. Norrisville Road, Conneautville, was bound over to county court following Tuesday’s preliminary hearing held before Magisterial District Judge Lincoln Zilhaver at the Crawford County jail in Saegertown.

Before onlookers that included several family members, she continued her emotional outburst for several minutes after the conclusion of the proceeding, before being led back to her jail cell.

Pennsylvania State Police allege Oliver shot and killed her 63-year-old husband, Anthony D. Oliver, at their Hayfield Township home shortly before 10 a.m. Oct. 5, using a single-barrel 12-gauge shotgun.

Oliver, who’s been held at the jail since her Oct. 5 arrest, spent much of the one-hour and 15-minute hearing sobbing softly.

Trooper Eric Mallory, a state police criminal investigator, testified Mrs. Oliver said the incident was triggered by a domestic dispute between her and her husband.

Mallory said Mrs. Oliver shot her husband in their bedroom after Mr. Oliver had gone into the bedroom and called her derogatory names.

Mallory testified that in an interview with Mrs. Oliver after her arrest, she said the couple had awakened that morning, had coffee together and “things were fine.” Mrs. Oliver said she did go back to bed later because medication she must take makes her sleepy, Mallory testified.

Mrs. Oliver said she was awakened later after her husband yelled out an expletive statement while he was doing bills in the kitchen, Mallory testified.

Mrs. Oliver said Mr. Oliver threw a chair or stool at the bedroom door, and called her a name as he entered the bedroom, Mallory said.

Mr. Oliver then called her another name that Mrs. Oliver said she “absolutely despises,” Mallory said.

Mallory testified Mrs. Oliver said that her husband yelled he was going “to teach her a lesson.”

Mrs. Oliver said she then rolled off the bed and reached for a shotgun her husband kept under it, Mallory said. Mrs. Oliver then came up off the floor, shot her husband once, put the gun on the bed and called 911, Mallory said.

“She said she must have pulled the hammer back and pulled the trigger,” Mallory testified. “She said she didn’t remember doing so.”

Mrs. Oliver had said her husband had not struck her, nor hit her earlier that day, and he did not sexually assault her, Mallory testified when questioned by assistant District Attorney Doug Ferguson.

Mrs. Oliver said Mr. Oliver didn’t have anything in his hands when he came at her, Mallory said. She also was familiar with how the gun worked, and she had a .410-gauge shotgun of her own, Mallory said.

Under cross-examination by Jeff Misko, an assistant county public defender, Mallory testified Mrs. Oliver said she hadn’t been abused by her husband.

“She said they were soul-mates and had been through everything together,” Mallory said.

Asked if he had evidence to show Mrs. Oliver had pre-planned the event, Mallory said he didn’t.

“Based on the evidence you have, do you think this was an accident?,” Misko then asked. “No, I do not,” Mallory said.

Following the hearing, Mrs. Oliver was returned to the Crawford County jail where she has been held without bond since her arrest. She is expected to go to trial in Crawford County Court in early 2011.

According to the Pennsylvania State Police Megan’s Law website — a public registry of convicted sex offenders — Anthony D. Oliver was convicted on a charge of sexual abuse in July 2004 in New York.

In early October following the incident, The Niagara Falls, N.Y., Gazette, reported Anthony D. Oliver was a retired traffic officer for the Niagara Falls Police Department. After retiring from the force around 15 years ago, according to the Gazette, he took a management position with a western New York-based solid waste disposal service and was tried in 2004 following reports of sexual improprieties.

Mr. Oliver pleaded guilty that year to a charge of sexual abuse stemming from the employment incident, according to the Gazette.



Keith Gushard can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.