Missing money adds to mystery

LOCK HAVEN -- Did Kathy Heckel cash a $1,500 check the afternoon she went missing?

Was there a reason that, although she and her former husband had a combined income of approximately $72,000, they would struggle financially?

Defense Attorney George E. Lepley Jr. was focused on finances during his cross examination of John Heckel III Monday afternoon.

Lepley asked Heckel if he was aware that there was evidence that Kathy cashed a check in the amount of $1,500 "around lunch time" on July 15, 1991.

The evidence was from a police report filed on July 26, 1991 where Heckel himself allegedly told police a check had been cashed that day.

"I don't recall any of that," Heckel answered.

Lepley pressed further, asking if Heckel would dispute an officer's claim if they were to testify that he did in fact state that.

Heckel said he would not necessarily dispute it. "I would say I don't remember telling him that," he said.

Lepley continued to question Kathy's alleged financial habits even referencing an alleged argument she and Heckel had over money before her disappearance.

"Was there a time when you went to a MAC machine to withdraw funds and couldn't take enough money out," he asked.

John agreed and Lepley pressed on further asking if he confronted Kathy about it.

"Yes," John answered, adding that he dropped the matter when Kathy became upset.

Lepley produced another document concerning the Heckel family's financial matters given to an investigative team by Heckel. It was a financial statement Heckel filled out for the military.

He said he had to complete the statement to maintain his military clearances and it was completed in 1993.

Lepley asked if Heckel was in therapy at the time he filed the report.

Heckel previously told the prosecution he'd seen a therapist during the early stage of Kathy's disappearance.

"I don't recall I was still in therapy then," Heckel answered.

Lepley focused on the time frame of 1987 to 1991, before Kathy went missing, having Heckel read a part of the report.

"It was determined that monies had been withdrawn but not deposited … best estimate is between 1987 to July 1991. Forty to 60 thousand dollars were withdrawn, not deposited," Heckel read.

Kathy was in charge of the family's finances due to Heckel's constant absences due to his career, Heckel said.

"From 1987 to July 1991, when your wife didn't come home, the best estimate between yourself and state police is that there may have been between $40,000 to $60,000 withdrawn from the account," Lepley said.

Heckel disputed Lepley's statement, saying he did not have police look into the matter.

He gave them the report after looking into it himself, he said.

"It's the same statement I made when I was asked if I wanted Loyd Groves audited. That's not my call," he said. "I only gave him (the officer) the information that I had determined."

Heckel argued that, although the money was uncounted for, it was possible he was partially to blame because he didn't always keep track of the money he took out of the account.

Upon questioning from Lepley, Heckel admitted he did not initially tell police this when they first investigated her disappearance.

Lepley continued to question Kathy's alleged spending habits, asking Heckel to read another section of the police report.

"After a search of our home was completed by state police, checks were found that were marked void by Kathy," Heckel read. "Cash withdraws would be made on this account and where the funds are I do not know."

"So obviously the funds aren't in the bank," Lepley asked.

"Obviously not," Heckel answered.

Lepley later brought up void checks Heckel found in 2015.

"Did you turn them over to police," he asked.

"No, they didn't ask for them," Heckel said.

Lepley asked what happened to the checks.

"They were probably destroyed with the rest of the checking information," Heckel answered.

The financial line of questioning seemed to take a turn when Lepley asked about a drug search Heckel had requested on his home before Kathy's disappearance.

Isn't it true that you became involved in a search of the house thinking that she was involved in drugs, Lepley said.

Heckel disputed this claim with Lepley, interrupting him at times in an attempt to explain himself further.

Lepley asked him to stop so he could further explain his question.

"So you did suspect your wife (could have been involved in drug activity)," he asked.

"That's correct," Heckel answered.

Lepley had Heckel read another exhibit, the police report written about the search of the home by a narcotics canine.

"So you believed Kathy may have been involved with drugs," Lepley asked again.

"No, we had company at the time that I thought perhaps may have been involved in drugs," Heckel answered.

Lepley further asked if Heckel had told police that his then wife was involved in police activity.

Heckel said no and further referenced the police report himself. "At the request of the victim's husband … the narcotics canine was sent to the home," he read.

He further read that he had been concerned about missing money and possible drug activity in his home.

"Did you tell him (the officer) that the money that was missing from your account could have been missing due to drugs," Lepley asked.

"I don't recall that even on the report. No I did not tell him in those specific words," Heckel answered.

When asked by Lepley what he meant by "specific words" he explained further.

"I'm saying that to the best of my recollection I used two different sentences," he said. "The first ending with money missing and the second that I felt there may have been drugs in the house."

"So he may have omitted certain parts?" Lepley pressed further.

"He may have shortened it," Heckel agreed.

Lepley once again switched gears back to finances, producing another police report from the investigation.

The report stated that, although Kathy had been promoted from data processor to administrative assistant and finally to a plant controller by 1986, the Heckels' credit had begun to deteriorate.

Heckel agreed that the report was accurate to his knowledge.

Once again, Lepley changed course.

"Is it true that there were multiple occasions where she (Kathy) would disappear and not come home at night so you'd have to look for her… sometimes you'd be out very late looking for her," Lepley asked.

"Yes," Heckel answered.

But he had only had to search late into the night once, he said.

Switching back to finances, Lepley asked if Heckel spoke with officers in 2014, voicing concern about what the defense might do with the alleged missing money.

Heckel denied this.

Lepley pressed further, saying he had a document that may have said he had expressed concern over what the defense may do about all the missing money.

Heckel still denied it.

"Did you voice concern that the defense may say she may have been in Bermuda with this missing money," Lepley asked.

District Attorney Daniel Dye immediately objected to the line of questioning, which was accepted after a side bar with Judge Kenneth Brown.

Lepley back tracked to the financial record, which initially alleged $40 to 60 thousand was unaccounted for in the couple's' finances.

"In going back through the checking accounts … going back from 1987 to 1991, did you furnish those records," he asked Heckel.

Heckel interrupted before Lepley could continue, saying "no" he only looked into the records.

"And where are they (the records) now," Lepley asked.

"They're gone now," Heckel answered.

During the defense's questioning, Lepley brought up an affair Kathy allegedly had with childhood friend Dennis Taylor.

He asked if Heckel had met Taylor or was aware of the possible affair.

"I met him once at a wedding reception," Heckel answered.

He didn't learn about their alleged affair until after her disappearance, he said.

Lepley also asked Heckel about lewd photographs Kathy had taken of herself.

Heckel said he was aware of the photographs but had not been involved in taking them or picking them up.

"You don't know if there were more," Lepley asked.

Heckel agreed.

"Would it surprise you to know that Taylor took her to get the pictures," Lepley continued.

"It doesn't surprise me at this point, but it would have then," Heckel answered.

Lepley's line of questioning turned to possible missing items from the Heckel home after Kathy's disappearance.

"You said none of her stuff was missing, but did you tell the police you couldn't find some items," Lepley asked.

Heckel said he could only recall that he couldn't find keys to the Ford Bronco Kathy had been driving the day she disappeared.

Lepley pressed further, referencing a police report that stated he reported a photo album, picnic items, a Bible, cards, letters and the keys missing.

The report hadn't been filed until July 29, 1991.

"Back in 1991 my concern wasn't photographs, it was my wife," he said.

Heckel said when he returned home July 16, 1991 those items, specifically the photos and the Bible, were in Kathy's nightstand.

When asked how he knew this, he explained he'd later gone to the nightstand to look for the Bible and couldn't find it.

Everything did turn up over time, except for the Bible, Heckel said.

Prosecutor Daniel Dye's questions of Heckel were kept relatively short.

At one point Dye asked Heckel flat out if he'd killed his wife.

With tears in his eyes, Heckel answered "no."

When asked about the affair Kathy had with the defendant, Heckel said he didn't have concrete evidence.

"No, but in a way I suspected it because of the volleyball situation," he said.

Hammermill Paper Co. had a volleyball team that both Groves and Kathy took part in at the local YMCA, he said.

When it first began, Kathy would take their children John and Alicia, Heckel said.

But, during the spring season, before she went missing, she stopped allowing them to go with her saying that children weren't allowed and it was adults only, he said.

During his questioning, Dye showed Heckel a photo of the van Groves was driving during the time of Kathy's disappearance.

Heckel confirmed that he knew the vehicle and even borrowed it to take his family to Vermont on a ski trip.

When asked if Kathy had ridden in the back seat, Heckel said "no."

Dye asked if it was possible Kathy suffered any injuries, such as a gash, on the trip.

Heckel immediately said "no."

He also testified that he did a bit of searching for Kathy in the days after her disappearance. He mostly looked around the Lock Haven area and also toward Renovo, he said.

A lot of the places he'd looked the police had already checked, he said.