FROM MCKEAN COUNTY D.A., STEPHANIE VETTENBERG-SHAFFER.
District Attorney Stephanie Vettenburg-Shaffer reports a conviction in the homicide trial of Thomas MCELHATTAN. Following a 4-day jury trial, the jury delivered a verdict of Guilty to all counts – Criminal Homicide-Murder in the 1st Degree; Aggravated Assault; and two counts of Recklessly Endangering Another Person- one count each for the deceased victim as well as her one-year-old child who was present in the home. The Commonwealth sought enhancements for use of a deadly weapon and the jury agreed.
The case was initiated after MCELHATTAN called 911 on June 7, 2025, and reported that he had shot a woman on Jefferson Street in Bradford. MCELHATTAN had left the location and proceeded to his residence on Rutherford Run. City of Bradford Police Sgt. Matthew Gustin and Officer Joshua Frederoski were dispatched to the victim’s residence on Jefferson Street and were able to view an obviously deceased victim on the couch through a window. Sgt. Gustin kicked in the door and found 21-year-old Rebecca Haynes deceased on the couch with obvious gunshot wounds. The officers observed five shell casings and observed gun shot wounds to the victim including one through her ring finger. City of Bradford EMS responded but she was deceased.
As City of Bradford Officers were responding to Jefferson Street, Bradford Township Officer Donald Neel was dispatched to Rutherford Run where he encountered MCELHATTAN and took him into custody.
Throughout the evening of June 7th, officers from the City, Bradford Township, Foster Township, Pennsylvania State Police, County Detectives and District Attorney worked on both scenes to collect evidence. An autopsy was performed by Dr. Todd Luckasevich of the Erie County Medical Examiner’s Office in the following days who found that Rebecca Haynes suffered 5 gunshot wounds- 4 that went through her heart including a gunshot wound that passed through her hand and entered into her heart; two more gunshot wounds to the chest that entered into her heart; and two more that entered from her side – one through her shoulder and one through her upper back. Each shot was determined by the doctor to be fatal and she was alive for each shot. Four of the bullets were located in Haynes’ body while one exited her lower back. A search of the residence located the bullet in her couch cushion. Two of the gunshot wounds were determined to have been fired at close range.
Bradford City Police Chief Michael Ward and McKean County Chief Detective Ryan Yingling interviewed MCELHATTAN. MCELHATTAN initially denied a sexual affair with Haynes, however, the investigators were able to elicit from him, ultimately, that he had, in fact, had an ongoing affair with Haynes for two years and Haynes repeatedly threatened to tell his wife. MCELHATTAN said that nothing was different on June 7 than any other day other than he wasn’t feeling well and was fed up and said that there was no “safe” way to get her to stop from telling his wife. The investigators and everyone who had contact with MCELHATTAN that day described him as alarmingly calm. The interviewers were the last witnesses called by the Commonwealth.
District Attorney Stephanie Vettenburg-Shaffer: “I am grateful for the jury’s verdict. The evidence was not easy for jurors to see, I’m sure, but it was important to show them the condition of Rebecca Haynes and how the bullets entered her body- some at close range according to experts. These factors suggested an intentional killing and that was what we were seeking in a Murder in the first-degree verdict. Although this brings us closer to the only justice the criminal justice system can provide for Rebecca, I know that her family and long-time boyfriend Devin still suffer every day from the defendant’s violent actions as will the defendant’s wife. My heart breaks for all of them. Rebecca’s mother and boyfriend expressed appreciation for the jury’s verdict, and I would like to convey that on their behalf to any juror reading this. Each piece of evidence, albeit important to the case, opened old wounds. The senselessness of the defendant’s actions – murder to keep an affair quiet – makes her death even more difficult to comprehend.
I also would like to commend our officers for their response, which was captured by their body-worn cameras. At the victim’s residence on Jefferson Street, Sgt. Matthew Gustin and Officer Joshua Frederoski, seeing her deceased body on the couch through a window, kicked in the door to gain entry to her residence without knowing if danger was lurking inside. Officer Donald Neel, upon being dispatched to Rutherford Run after the defendant called 911, raced to the defendant’s residence and took him into custody while knowing he just shot a woman.”
DA Shaffer explained the crime of Homicide: “Many people do not realize that, despite the defendant calling 911 to report what he had done, the Commonwealth must still prove he committed a Homicide which is required to be proven by other evidence before his confession is admissible. If we can prove Homicide, we are then required to prove the level of Homicide which can be, in any case, any of the following: Murder in the First Degree, Murder in the Second Degree, Murder in the Third Degree, Voluntary Manslaughter and Involuntary Manslaughter. In this case, the jury was able to decide whether the homicide was Murder 1, Murder 3 or Voluntary Manslaughter/heat of passion justification. So the work does not end at the 911 call. I rely on experienced interviewers to gain information from the defendant to determine what level of Homicide we could prove. In this case, the defense argued that he should only be found guilty of Voluntary Manslaughter/heat of passion justification which would be a sentence of only a couple of years. Chief County Detective Ryan Yingling and Chief Michael Ward conducted the interview of the defendant and, it was the information gleaned from that interview, which proved his actions were intentional and without legal justification. Their experience in these complicated cases and knowledge of the elements of each crime that could be charged allows them to know the types of questions to ask and is critical to the prosecution. Proving Murder in the First Degree versus a heat of passion Voluntary Manslaughter came down to this interview.”
DA Shaffer continued: “This case was the culmination of excellent police work of the responding officers, officers who processed evidence, cooperative witnesses, and the experienced interviewers in proving intentional, First-Degree Murder. Some officers responded to the scene while others processed evidence and interviewed witnesses. In the days that followed the murder, videos from neighbors and city surveillance cameras were obtained and allowed Officer Tyler Blair to track MCELHATTAN’S movements from the time he left his house with the victim’s one year old child to the time he arrived at her residence.”
Video showed that, when MCELHATTAN arrived, his key did not work in the door, and phone records showed that he called Rebecca who was inside. She had previously messaged him to leave items on the porch. Several minutes elapsed until he was finally able to enter the home only to exit a few minutes later, still on the phone with Rebecca who was still inside. He entered once again and was inside for 12 minutes before calmly exiting with the child, placing the child in the back seat of his truck, and driving to his residence. Thirteen minutes after he left, he placed the 911 call.
Witnesses testified that, just prior to calling 911, he told Rebecca’s boyfriend and his friends, “I shot her in the cocksucker. I shot her in the heart she doesn’t have.”
DA Vettenburg-Shaffer: “The evidence shows that the motive of the crime was to keep his affair a secret. The defendant’s actions were cold and intentional and he showed no remorse. He deserves a sentence of life in prison which is the standard sentence for Murder in the First Degree. Throughout the case, the work of our officers and others continued up to the time of trial including Chief Ward, Chief Yingling, Sgt. Gustin, Officer Neel, Officer Frederoski, Trooper Coby Sebastian, Dr. Luckasevic, Rebecca’s mother, Shanel McElhattan, Trooper Jason Perry, Devin Milne, Joe Teeter, 911 operator Evan Rodriguez, Officer Tyler Blair, Det. Mark Deluca and Capt. Ray Douglass as well as countless hours of police work by assisting officers with the City, Bradford Township, State Police and Foster Township maintaining security at both crime scenes. Excellent police work and cooperation of witnesses allowed for the presentation of a case that supported a First-Degree Murder verdict.”
Chief Michael Ward and Chief Ryan Yingling were co-affiants on the case. District Attorney Stephanie Vettenburg-Shaffer prosecuted the case on behalf of the Commonwealth.
Sentencing will be held on June 24th.
