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Reporter: Associated Press

PA Ex-Pastor Convicted Of Killing 2nd Wife

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

A former Pennsylvania pastor has been convicted in the 2008 death of his second wife, but still awaits trial in the 1999 death of his first wife.

Arthur Schirmer blamed the second death on a slow-speed car crash and said his first wife fell down the stairs.

But authorities ultimately charged him with bludgeoning both women.

The verdict Tuesday comes after Schirmer testified Friday in Monroe County Court.

He told jurors that he was driving his second wife, Betty, to the hospital for jaw pain when a deer crossed their path, causing them to crash.

He is the former associate pastor at a Methodist church in Reeders in northeast Pennsylvania.

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