Jun 1, 2024 By Jon Andreassi 5 min read

Approaching the midpoint of 2024, Fayette County has already exceeded the number of homicide investigations than at the same point last year.

District Attorney Mike Aubele has taken on seven homicide cases during his first five months in office. In 2023 there had been five cases by mid-July.

While the number of homicides has risen, Aubele does not think that violence is rising across the board.

“I think it has been an unusual year. I don’t think there is necessarily an uptick in violence. These homicides are not typically what we see,” Aubele said.

He cited the recent arrest of Edmund Parson, who allegedly shot and killed James Tucker in Cardale on May 24. The two were friends, and a third person in the home told investigators there was no dispute prior to the shooting.

Aubele said there are mental health issues at play in Parson’s case, and used the incident as an example of how some of these recent cases occurred under unique circumstances, and described them as “isolated incidents.”

“Anytime there is a homicide it is concerning. Ultimately, I don’t see a trend here,” he said. “I don’t see any reason for anyone to be concerned. None of the violence we’ve seen has been any threat to the community at large.”

The county’s first homicide case came on New Year’s Day, when Franverlys “Nicole” Zambrano, 26, was found dead at her Uniontown home. Her husband 56-year-old Arthur Guty was charged in the case and arrested after he fled to Las Vegas.

In February, a man was fatally stabbed in East Millsboro, and in April, police investigated a shooting death in Redstone Township. There were three homicides in May – two in Uniontown and the one that resulted in Parson’s arrest.

Police have made arrests in all of the cases except the most recent one, the May 26 shooting of 20-year-old Jacob Wilson in Uniontown.

Both Aubele and Uniontown Police Lt. Tom Kolencik said they hope to make an arrest soon.

“We just don’t have what we need quite yet,” Kolencik said.

In April the remains of missing teenager Kaitlin Whoolery were found in North Union Township. Whoolery, 17, had last been seen in Uniontown Nov. 23. That case is also being treated as a homicide.

The homicides that occurred by mid-July last year all took place in Uniontown, though Kolencik noted one was ruled justifiable and the other was ruled accidental.

“Last year was a very rare year with a high number of homicides (in Uniontown),” he said.

Kolencik does not think the number of homicides in the county is indicative of violent crime trending upward. However, he did express concerns about how young some of the defendants are.

“It’s a younger age that is more our concern. Our shootings and our homicides appear to be coming from a younger age group,” Kolencik said.

Over the years current and former residents have taken to the moniker “Fayettenam” to describe the county, a term Aubele rejects.

“I refuse to use that term. I will never use that term. This is a great county. We have great officers and a great state police barracks. We have great job opportunities here, and we can always do better,” Aubele said. “There is no reason for anyone to think this is a crime ridden area, or that crime is something we wear as a badge of honor. That is not the case.”

Aubele pointed to multiple changes he has made to the district attorney’s office since he stepped into the role.

“We’ve hired more staff. We have more assistant district attorneys than we’ve had in this office for a long time. We have been able to fill positions because people want to work here now,” Aubele said.

Aubele leveled criticism at his predecessor, Richard Bower, for how the office approached cases during his administration.

“We are not making the low ball offers that we saw from the previous administration. For a long time, criminals in this county thought they were going to have a great opportunity to get house arrest or get charges dismissed. I think I’ve made it pretty clear, that is not the way we are going to handle things going forward. There are going to be major consequences for criminal activity,” Aubele said.

When reached by phone, Bower declined to comment.

Part of this was the recent hiring of Robert Reitler to serve as county detective. Reitler retired from state police in March.

Aubele wants the district attorney’s office to be more involved with investigations.

“My detective is working out of this office. He is responding to scenes, and is my liaison between all the departments,” Aubele said.

Aubele hopes this shift in attitude will lead to better results in the courtroom and reduce crime in the area.

“We are focusing on putting together better cases,” Aubele said.

Kolencik said in Uniontown the local police department frequently works with organizations, schools and churches to try and create a better environment.

“We don’t pass up any offers to work with the community and try to bridge the gap between law enforcement and the community. Especially with the kids,” Kolencik said.