West Finley man accused of abducting wife believed to be hiding in barn
South Strabane police arrive at a potential standoff on Walnut Valley Road in West Finley Township, where it is believed Kevin Ewing is hiding, Tuesday night.
A 2016 gray Hyundai Velostar was found at about 9 a.m. Tuesday in a gas well staging area near the intersection of McGuffey and Old Brick roads in West Finley Township.
Tierne Ewing of West Finley has been missing since 12:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Tierne Ewing
Kevin Ewing leaves with one of his attorneys after a July 26 preliminary hearing before District Judge Jay Weller on charges including kidnapping and aggravated assault of his wife, Tierne.
The home at 338 Blockhouse Run Road in West Finley Township where Tierne Ewing allegedly was kidnapped by her husband, Kevin Ewing, early Tuesday.
State police secured the area where Tierne Ewing was believed kidnapped by her husband, Kevin Ewing, early Tuesday morning in West Finley Township.
State Police Trooper Stefanie Lucas addresses the media at a news conference Tuesday about the kidnapping of Tierne Ewing, allegedly by her husband, Kevin Ewing. The vehicle that the Ewings were believed to have been in was found near the intersection of McGuffey and Old Brick roads in West Finley Township.
More than 20 police and emergency vehicles, including SWAT and CERT teams, were at the scene Tuesday night.
A South Strabane police officer arrives at Walnut Valley Road in West Finley Township Tuesday night, where it was believed kidnapping suspect Kevin Ewing was hiding.
CLAYSVILLE – A daylong manhunt ended Tuesday night as the wife of a West Finley Township man, who was suspected of kidnapping her, was found dead in a West Finley Township barn, while the husband, Kevin Ewing, was being lifeflighted after a more than three-hour standoff.
Tierne Ewing was kidnapped by Kevin Ewing, 47, at 12:30 a.m. Tuesday morning at a home at 338 Blockhouse Run Road in West Finley, state police said.
Later Tuesday, police departments from South Strabane, North Franklin and Donegal townships, the city of Washington and state police swarmed a 112-acre farm. SWAT and CERT teams were also on scene at 238 Walnut Valley Road as they surrounded the area in search of Kevin Ewing.
Her father, Richard Kopko, confirmed her death at 11:14 p.m.
“She was a good kid,” Kopko said. “She was scared to death of him. He threatened her all the time, and he beat her up several times.”
Kevin Ewing was free on $100,000 bond on charges stemming from an alleged kidnapping earlier this summer, when Tierne Ewing told police she was beaten, bound and assaulted while being held against her will.
“It’s sick and the damned judges let him go,” Kopko said.
Since his release from jail pending those charges, a judge added GPS tracking and electronic home monitoring to the conditions of Kevin Ewing’s bond. State police said Ewing cut off the bracelet and left it at his residence Monday.
Because just the plastic band was cut, it did not alert authorities he removed it or left the home.
State police Tuesday charged Ewing with kidnapping, aggravated assault, terroristic threats, unlawful restraint, reckless endangerment and a firearm violation.
Judge Michael J. Lucas revoked Kevin Ewing’s bond in the previous kidnapping case Tuesday.
Initially, police were looking for a gray Hyundai Veloster the pair were traveling in, but it was found later Tuesday morning parked at a gas well staging area near the intersection of McGuffey and Old Brick roads in West Finley Township. There was nobody inside the vehicle. State police were searching the nearby wooded area for most of the day. The vehicle was towed to the state police barracks, where it was being processed.
Tierne Ewing and Kevin Ewing were found at Chrome Federal Credit Union July 8 after Tierne Ewing told tellers she was under duress and was being held against her will. When police arrived, they found Kevin Ewing in the parking lot with a rifle, handgun and a knife. Tierne Ewing told tellers, “He’s gonna kill me. I don’t want to die.”
Tierne Ewing said from June 26 to July 8 she was beaten, pistol-whipped, spat upon and that her husband used wire to tie her hands and lock her in a closet. She also was taken to wooded areas and branded on her legs with a hot metal rod, police said.
Assistant District Attorney Kristin Clingerman later wrote in court papers Tierne Ewing sustained “multiple injuries including but not limited to a concussion, facial and body contusions and bruising, and a severe laceration of her scalp requiring staples.”
Kevin Ewing was arrested on charges of kidnapping, aggravated assault, illegal possession of firearms, false imprisonment and other charges. He was released from jail July 11 after posting the $100,000 bond set by District Judge Mark Wilson.
In a motion filed four days after Ewing’s release, Clingerman asserted the bond was “insufficient and an inappropriate amount for the gravity and severity of the above-captioned criminal matter” and asked for an increase in the amount.
A hearing on the motion was held July 19 before Judge Gary Gilman.
The judge declined to change the bond amount but added other conditions Clingerman requested, including electronic home monitoring and GPS tracking and barring firearms from being in his possession or at his residence, to help ensure the safety of his wife and others.
The criminal charges from this year are the most recent set of physical and emotional abuse allegations lodged against Kevin Ewing.
“(Kevin Ewing’s) wife, Tierne Ewing, was also the victim of the defendant’s prior crimes of domestic violence,” Clingerman wrote in the petition she filed last month.
In a petition for a PFA filed in Washington County court in April 2001, Tierne Ewing wrote her husband “told me I would leave in a pine box” after an argument.
The following month, he pleaded no contest to four counts of indirect criminal contempt for violating the PFA order. He also pleaded guilty to simple assault in an incident in which Donegal police said he attacked his wife.
Tierne Ewing’s 2001 petition also mentioned a 1990 PFA she filed and described her husband as mentally and physically abusive.
Staff writer Gideon Bradshaw contributed to this report.