The Delco pastor accused of killing Gretchen Harrington in 1975 says he was coerced into confessing
Prosecutors said David Zandstra confessed after being presented with new evidence of a crime he allegedly committed days before the murder.
The lawyer for a former Broomall pastor accused of killing an 8-year-old girl in a cold-case murder that roiled a corner of Delaware County for decades said Wednesday that state troopers browbeat his client into admitting to a crime he did not commit.
David Zandstra, 83, confessed in July that he lured Gretchen Harrington into a secluded corner of Ridley Creek State Park in 1975, forced her to undress, beat her to death and hid her body under leaves and dirt, according to investigators. But at Zandstra’s preliminary hearing on first-degree murder, kidnapping, and related charges, his attorney, Mark Much, disputed that admission, saying Pennsylvania State Police troopers wore down a confused, vulnerable man who confessed under duress.
“This is an 83-year-old man that was subjected to a four-hour interview, and was manipulated, coerced, tricked, lied to, and they believe he admitted to something that I submit he didn’t do,” Much said.
“They tricked him into thinking he did something that he didn’t remember doing by telling him they had all this evidence against him that they didn’t have,” Much added.
State Police Cpl. Andrew Martin later acknowledged under cross-examination by Much that he had lied to Zandstra during that interview, making it seem that investigators had more evidence than they did, including saying the girl’s DNA had been found on rocks at the scene where a jogger discovered her corpse.
Deputy District Attorney Geoff Paine insisted that Zandstra was the killer. He said the pastor admitted to the long-ago murder after being presented with a statement by a woman who had been a childhood friend of one of Zandstra’s daughters. Last year, he said, the woman told police the preacher had molested her at a sleepover a week before Gretchen’s abduction.
“The jury is going to see the whole statement. And they’re going to see that when Mr. Zandstra admitted to what he did, it was not because of any lie told by the trooper,” Paine said. “It was when he was confronted with another victim coming forward.”
» READ MORE: Nearly 50 years after panic gripped suburbia, a new book, a key witness, and a confession
During Wednesday’s hearing, Gretchen’s sister Zoe testified that her younger sibling had left their home early Aug. 15, 1975, walking about a half-mile by herself to attend Bible camp at Trinity Church Chapel Christian Reform Church, where Zandstra was pastor. The girls’ father was the pastor at the nearby Reformed Presbyterian Church, and was a friend of Zandstra’s, she said.
On most days, one of Gretchen’s sisters would walk with her to Trinity, but on that morning, her sister said, she walked alone because things were “chaotic” at home after the birth of a new baby, their sister Jessica. When Gretchen had not returned hours later, she said her family began searching for her.
Gretchen remained missing for two months, until a passerby discovered skeletal remains in Ridley Creek State Park. Retired State Police Capt. John McKenna testified Wednesday that clothes were found neatly folded near the remains, including a pair of child’s underwear.
Among the clothing was a distinct, handmade blouse that matched the description of the one Gretchen was last seen wearing, prosecutors said. A county medical examiner ruled that she had been struck twice on the right side of the head, causing severe brain injuries that killed her.
Zandstra, who presided over Gretchen’s funeral, later moved away from Delaware County, eventually settling in Georgia. Since his arrest, multiple victims have come forward, both locally and across the country, alleging that he had molested them, Paine said Wednesday.
No additional charges have been filed in Delaware County — the sexual assault cases reported to the District Attorney’s Office fall outside the state’s statute of limitations, Paine said.
After Wednesday’s hearing, Magisterial District Judge Walter Strohl held Zandstra for court on all charges, sending his case to a county judge. He is scheduled to be arraigned at the county courthouse in Media on Dec. 13.