LEOLA, Pa. – Police believe a 21-year-old man charged in the beating deaths of six family members used their credit cards or cash for a shopping spree after the killings, court documents show.
Authorities recovered 12 articles of clothing with sales tags still attached from the bedroom of Jesse Dee "Jay" Wise, who is charged with six counts of homicide, according to a search warrant record released Friday.
Police believe Wise used his victims' credit cards, checks or money "after their death to purchase items and services as he continued to live in his home," East Lampeter Township detective Joseph Edgell wrote in a search warrant affidavit.
Police also reported that they seized knives and bloody tissues, towels and clothing from the home where the bodies were discovered April 12.
The documents say one victim had been stabbed repeatedly, and an electrical cord was found around the neck of the suspect's 5-year-old cousin. A coroner determined all the victims had been beaten to death.
Police seized computer equipment from the home to examine it for evidence of a motive, and said Wise might have visited Internet sites to learn how to commit or conceal murder, according to court documents.
At least five search warrants have yielded dozens of items, including suspected bone fragments, a suspected marijuana joint, a clump of black hair, a sledgehammer, cleaning solution, shoes, photographs, electrical cords, computer cable and 14 knives.
John A. Kenneff, who represents Wise, said Friday he had not read the search warrant documents and declined to comment on the case.
Wise was charged a day after the bodies were found, some wrapped in blankets, in the basement.
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