John Charles Eichinger

Overview

John Charles Eichinger was convicted of murdering Jennifer Still, Heather Greaves, Lisa Greaves, and Avery Johnson. He was sentenced to death in December 2005 for the murders of Heather Greaves, Lisa Greaves, and Avery Johnson.

Timeline

• March 25, 2005 — John Charles Eichinger drove to the Greaves’ residence and told police he intended to kill Heather Greaves unless she ended her relationship with her most recent boyfriend; he carried a large knife and rubber gloves and concealed them under his sweat jacket; an argument ensued at the Greaves’ house, and Eichinger stabbed Heather repeatedly in the stomach; Avery, Heather’s three-year-old daughter, witnessed the stabbing and Eichinger slashed Avery in the neck; Eichinger followed Avery and then encountered Lisa, Heather’s sister coming out of the bathroom, overpowered her, and stabbed her repeatedly in the stomach; Eichinger stabbed Avery once more in the back; he stabbed Heather in the diaphragm and slit her throat; he used rubber gloves to prevent his blood from being left at the crime scene and cut open Lisa’s shirt to make it appear that Lisa had been the target to confuse police.
• July 6, 1999 — Eichinger used the knife from the Greaves’ murders to kill another woman, Jennifer Still.
• September 15, 2005 — Eichinger filed an omnibus pre-trial motion seeking to suppress his statements to the police; the motion was denied; at a pre-trial hearing, Eichinger and Detective Nilsen testified and the trial judge found Detective Nilsen’s testimony credible and found all of the statements Eichinger made to the police admissible at trial.
• October 18, 2005 — Eichinger waived his right to a jury and the guilt-phase bench trial was held; he stipulated to the Commonwealth’s evidence at the September 15 pre-trial hearing; Eichinger was adjudicated guilty of all charges.
• November 1, 2005 — The sentencing phase began before a jury.
• December 2005 — Eichinger was sentenced to death.
• January 01, 2006 — A published report described that the jury, and then a judge, sentenced Eichinger to the death penalty.

People

• John Charles Eichinger — defendant; former supermarket employee from Somers Point, N.J.
• Heather Greaves — victim; 27-year-old.
• Lisa Greaves — victim; 23-year-old sister of Heather Greaves.
• Avery Johnson — victim; Heather’s three-year-old daughter.
• Jennifer Still (also referred to as Jennifer Louise Still) — victim; killed July 6, 1999; 20-year-old.
• George Greaves — father of Heather and Lisa Greaves; discovered the bodies later that day; relative of victims.
• Meredith Gardner Moffatt — friend to the Greaves sisters; confronted Eichinger in court with a question about killing Avery.
• Wendy Lavin — Still’s mother; co-founder of the Montgomery County Chapter of Parents of Murdered Children.
• Bruce Castor / Bruce L. Castor Jr. — District Attorney; assisted prosecution and sought death penalty.
• Carolyn Flannery — Assistant District Attorney; assisted Castor with the prosecution.
• William R. Carpenter — Montgomery County Judge; imposed sentences.
• William McElroy — defense lawyer representing Eichinger.
• Detective Richard Nilsen — Montgomery County Detective.
• Detective James Godby — Detective of the Upper Merion Police Department.
• Avery Johnson — also described as uttering the words “John killed Mommy” during the attack.
• Melody — Avery’s half-sister; 6-year-old.
• Heather Greaves’ father / George Greaves — described as discovering the murders later that day.

Background

Heather Greaves worked with John Charles Eichinger at an Acme market in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania before he was transferred to a store near his home. Heather told a neighbor she was expecting Eichinger to visit with flowers for her upcoming birthday, but considered him only a friend and did not want the kind of romantic relationship he sought.

District Attorney Bruce Castor said Jennifer Still and the Greaves were part of a wide circle of friends, and detectives realized they were talking to the same people they talked to when Still was killed. In 1999, Still's mother told a local TV news station that her daughter had been involved in a circle of friends who practiced Wicca. Castor said that the Greaves sisters, Still and Eichinger were involved in the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons. Prosecutors used Still’s murder to support seeking the death penalty for the Greaves-Johnson slayings.

The offence

March 25, 2005 — Greaves family murders (Heather Greaves, Lisa Greaves, Avery Johnson)

On the morning of March 25, 2005, John Charles Eichinger drove to the Greaves’ residence. Eichinger told police he intended to kill Heather Greaves unless she ended her relationship with her most recent boyfriend. He arranged to meet with Heather so she would be expecting him at her house that day.

Eichinger carried a large knife and a pair of rubber gloves in his waistband and concealed them under his sweat jacket. He went into the house to speak with Heather. An argument ensued. Eichinger pulled out the knife and stabbed Heather repeatedly in the stomach. Avery, Heather’s three-year-old daughter, was in the room and witnessed the stabbing. When Heather cried to Avery to call 911, Eichinger turned away from Heather and slashed Avery in the neck. Avery ran down the hallway before she fell.

Eichinger followed Avery and came upon Lisa, Heather’s sister coming out of the bathroom. Eichinger confessed to police, “I had to stab Lisa, too. I couldn’t go to jail.” Lisa tried to run back into the bathroom and shut the door, but Eichinger overpowered her. Eichinger stabbed Lisa repeatedly in the stomach.

Eichinger moved back towards the kitchen where Heather was dying, but not before he stabbed Avery once more, in the back. He stabbed her with such force that the blade came out her chest and pinned her to the floor.

Eichinger admitted to police that, “I couldn’t even let the three-year old identify me. I had known her since she was born and she knew my name. She could speak my name.” Back in the kitchen, Eichinger stabbed Heather in the diaphragm and slit her throat.

Eichinger went to the sink to wash his hands and noticed he was cut. He used one of the rubber gloves to prevent his blood from being left at the crime scene. Before leaving, Eichinger cut open Lisa’s shirt to make it appear that Lisa had been the target of the rampage in order to confuse police. Heather and Lisa’s father discovered the murders later that day.

In later descriptions of the murders, Avery screamed, “John killed Mommy.”

Eichinger also told police the reason for stabbing Heather in the stomach:

“had heard in movies and books that it was easier to puncture organs there than through the chest, where it is more difficult because of hitting bone.”

July 6, 1999 — Murder of Jennifer Still

Eichinger confessed that he used the knife from the Greaves’ murders to kill another woman, Jennifer Still, on July 6, 1999. Eichinger admitted he killed Jennifer because she rejected him in order to stay with her fiancé.

Eichinger described this murder:

“I had the knife in my hand. I turned away from her for a second and couldn’t believe she was doing that to me. She got real close to me. I thought, ‘You’re ripping my heart out and now you’re getting close to me.’ She put her hand on my shoulder. I turned around and stabbed her in the stomach. After I stabbed her the first time, she stepped back, but didn’t fall. Her blood splattered out at me. I lunged at her. I just kept stabbing her. I slit her throat as she slid down the wall. I let her body weight cut her throat against the knife.”

After the murder of Jennifer in 1999, Eichinger saved his clothes from that day and collected articles about the murder to serve as reminders. After using the knife to kill Jennifer Still, he stored it in a sheath in a cooler. Eichinger told police:

“I had it in the cooler with the rubber gloves and the Scream mask. Every Halloween I put the mask, gloves, and knife on and handed out candy at the door.”

Investigation

The police spoke to a neighbor who had witnessed Eichinger leaving the Greaves’ home that morning. Upon receiving this information, Detective Richard Nilsen, a Montgomery County Detective, and Detective James Godby of the Upper Merion Police Department went to the Somers Point, New Jersey Acme Food Market where Eichinger was employed. Eichinger agreed to be interviewed.

After some discussion and a false statement to the police, Eichinger confessed to the Greaves murders. During the same conversation, Eichinger also confessed that he used the knife from the Greaves’ murders to kill Jennifer Still on July 6, 1999.

As a result of his confessions, Eichinger was arrested and later transported back to Montgomery County. In transit, Eichinger made another incriminating statement describing the triple-homicide as well as the earlier murder of Jennifer Still to the police. This statement was memorialized in writing.

Authorities noted similarities in the location and type of stab wounds suffered by the three victims and those suffered by Still in the unsolved murder that occurred five years earlier in Bridgeport.

Arrest

Eichinger was arrested after his confessions and transported back to Montgomery County.

Trial

Pre-trial proceedings

Eichinger filed an omnibus pre-trial motion seeking to suppress his statements to the police. This motion was denied. At a pre-trial hearing on September 15, 2005, Eichinger and Detective Nilsen testified. The trial judge found Detective Nilsen’s testimony credible and found that all of the statements Eichinger made to the police were admissible at trial. Eichinger waived his right to a jury and proceeded with a guilt-phase bench trial.

Guilt-phase bench trial

A guilt-phase bench trial was held on October 18, 2005. Eichinger did not contest the charges and offered no defense; he stipulated to the evidence offered by the Commonwealth at the September 15 pre-trial hearing. Eichinger was adjudicated guilty of all charges.

Charges and outcomes at sentencing

The Commonwealth sought the penalty of death for the murders of Heather Greaves, Lisa Greaves and Avery Johnson. The sentencing phase was tried before a jury beginning on November 1, 2005. Although Eichinger did not contest guilt, he contested the imposition of the death penalty.

The jury found two aggravating factors in the death of Heather Greaves:

• that Eichinger had been convicted of another state offense for which a sentence of life imprisonment is imposable
• that Eichinger had been convicted of another murder which was committed before or at the time of the offense at issue

The first aggravating factor related to the murder of Jennifer Still six years earlier. The second related to the murder of Lisa Greaves and Avery Johnson which was contemporaneous with the murder of Heather Greaves.

The jury found the same two aggravators for the murder of Lisa Greaves plus a third aggravating factor:

• that the victim was a witness to a murder and was killed to prevent her testimony in any criminal proceeding concerning the offense

The jury found the same three aggravating factors for the murder of Avery Johnson plus a fourth aggravating factor:

• that Avery Johnson was a child less than twelve years of age

The jury determined there was one mitigating factor for each of these three murders:

• Eichinger was under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance

Finding the weight of the aggravating factors greater than the weight of the mitigating factor in each case, the jury returned a verdict of death for the murders of Heather, Lisa and Avery. District Attorney Bruce Castor said the jury’s verdict was based on prosecutors using Still’s murder to support seeking the death penalty for each of the Greaves-Johnson slayings.

Sentencing

Montgomery County Judge William R. Carpenter imposed three consecutive death sentences and a life prison sentence on Eichinger for the four killings. The judge also imposed a consecutive, maximum possible sentence of eight to 16 years in prison on charges of possessing an instrument of crime and lying to authorities. The consecutive jail time was described as making it more difficult for a future governor to commute Eichinger’s death sentences.

In court, Carpenter told Eichinger:

“You took the lives of four innocent persons for no reason. You are, simply stated, an evil person,”

Eichinger showed no reaction as he was led from the courtroom in handcuffs by sheriff’s deputies headed to death row. Eichinger did not address the judge or the families of the murdered women when offered the chance to speak before his punishment was imposed.

Assistant District Attorney Carolyn Flannery asked the judge to impose the maximum possible sentence, saying:

“he is so purely evil that there is no doubt he deserves to die”

Flannery also said:

“It's important to show how seriously we take these crimes, that they are so heinous, so brutal,”

Appeals

No appeal information was provided.

Outcome

A jury returned verdicts of death by lethal injection against Eichinger for the Greaves killings, and the judge imposed three consecutive death sentences and a life prison sentence for the four killings.

Eichinger was sentenced to death in December 2005.

Aftermath

Families were allowed to confront the killer before he was sentenced to death.

George Greaves said:

“In my assessment of this horrendous tragedy perpetrated by John Charles Eichinger, there is no justice that can satisfy me short of his termination and no restoration that can replace what was lost,”

Greaves said he did look forward to justice and added:

“However, I do look forward to the justice promised by the Lord Almighty where the wicked and evil emissaries of Satan such as John Charles Eichinger will receive payment for their acts with eternal, unrelenting torment in hell,”

Wendy Lavin said:

“He deserves the death penalty. No amount of time spent in prison could ever make up for the agony and suffering he caused Jennifer. He is a violent man who has no regard for life and no respect for the law,”

Meredith Gardner Moffatt confronted Eichinger with:

“How could you kill little Avery, John? Was it because she could speak your name? You are a baby-killer and by anyone's definition, a baby-killer is the lowest of the low. In hell, John, there is no mercy from God forever!”

Other details

• Eichinger was described as 33-year-old former supermarket employee from Somers Point, N.J.
• Eichinger worked at an Acme Food Market.
• Heather Greaves was described as stabbed repeatedly in the stomach, then later stabbed in the diaphragm and her throat was slit.
• Lisa Greaves was stabbed repeatedly in the stomach and her shirt was cut open to confuse police.
• Avery Johnson was slashed in the neck, fell, was stabbed once more in the back, and was pinned to the floor when the blade came out her chest.
• Eichinger admitted he prevented the three-year-old from identifying him because she knew his name and could speak it.
• Eichinger was represented by defense lawyer William McElroy.
• Eichinger’s brother broke his silence and spoke only to NBC 10; the brother did not want to be identified and said:

  “It is hard to believe he planned things out or that he was a cold-hearted killer when you look at all the nice things that he has done for people. He was the kind of guy that stopped at the side of the road if your car was sitting there on the side of the Blue Route. He was that kind of guy. To go from there to killing people, it just blew me away,”

• Eichinger’s brother turned letters over to police and testified; he said:

  “There's a very strong account as to what happened during the crimes. It is definitely an overwhelming sense of responsibility that you feel -- a cross between doing what's morally correct and what's proper for the Greaves family and what you've done to your brother,”

• Eichinger’s brother also said he was amazed at the kindness extended to him by the Greaves family.
• Victims were described by friends and relatives: Lisa was described as “a feisty princess” and “a strong-minded individual with a big heart” studying to be a registered nurse; Heather was described as “always had a smile and a pleasant demeanor and a great sense of humor”; George Greaves said he will miss “those little hugs of love” Avery received daily; George Greaves said he will have to explain to Avery’s half-sister, 6-year-old Melody, what happened to Heather and Avery; Wendy Lavin described Jennifer as “loving, caring, kind and considerate,” and said Jennifer loved musicals and poetry; Lavin told the judge:

  “My daughter was a very bright, independent young woman. We will never know what she could have made of her life. She was robbed of that opportunity, her life cut cruelly short,”