iradiophilly | News - Delco Man Voted as Dead Mother; Murder Charge in Missing Amish Teen Case; NJ Use of Force Policy

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Delco Man Voted as Dead Mother; Murder Charge in Missing Amish Teen Case; NJ Use of Force Policy

by: iradioal - Philadelphia, PA
started: 12/21/20 10:32 pm | updated: 12/21/20 10:41 pm

A Delaware County man is accused of election fraud and illegal voting using his dead mother and mother-in-law's names. 70-year-old Bruce Bartman of Marple Township is charged with two counts of perjury and one count of unlawful voting. Bartman used the online voter registration website to register his deceased mother, Elizabeth Bartman, who died a decade ago, as well as his mother-in-law, Elizabeth Weihman, who died in 2019. He registered them both as Republicans. Bartmen requested a mail-in ballot in his mother's name. He used the ballot to vote for Donald Trump and sent it in. The Delaware County Bureau of Elections says the vote was counted. Bartman did not request a mail-in ballot for his mother-in-law. Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer says this is the only known case of a 'dead' person voting in the county. He says, "even though this was the most secure election in our lifetimes, human history shows that there are always some who will try and criminally cheat any system. The fact that Mr. Bartman was able to register two deceased individuals through the Commonwealth's online voter registration system should trouble our state lawmakers."

Lancaster County prosecutors have filed homicide charges against a man in connection to the disappearance of an Amish teenage girl last summer. 34-year-old Justo Smoker of Paradise is now charged with criminal homicide. He has been in Lancaster County Prison since being arrested on July 10 and charged with felony kidnapping and misdemeanor false imprisonment of 18-year-old Linda Stoltzfoos. Stoltzfoos has been missing since June 21. She had been walking from church and never showed up at a youth group she had planned on attending. Surveillance video showed her getting into a red Kia Rio, similar to Smoker's. Days later, investigators found Stolzfoos' clothes buried in a rural area near where the car was parked. "Given the circumstances of Linda's disappearance; specifically, that she was forcefully abducted by a stranger, we always feared she suffered a tragic fate," Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams said Monday. "After careful consideration of all of the facts uncovered by the investigation as a whole, we are now in a position - legally - to charge Smoker with murder." (see photo below)

SEE ALSO: Arrest Missing Lancaster Amish Woman Stoltzfoos

New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal unveiled new use of force guidelines that are universal to all of the state's 38,000 police officers. That includes the State Police, the 21 county sheriff's offices, and more than 500 local police departments. The new policies include a prohibition against any use of physical force against a civilian except as a last report and only after attempts at de-escalation; a bar on deadly force against civilians, including chokeholds and strikes to the head and neck, except as a last report; and a halt on firing at moving vehicles or during high-speed chases, except in narrow instances. Any use of force must be logged in a statewide Use of Force Portal. Law enforcement agencies must conduct an annual review. The changes were implemented after this past summer's protests for police reform. Grewel says this is the first major revision of the policy in 20 years.

SEE ALSO: USE OF FORCE POLICY - Excellence in Policing initiative

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(1) response

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by: iradioal - Philadelphia, PA | responded: 12/21 10:41 pm

34-year-old Justo Smoker of Paradise is now charged with criminal homicide of 18-year-old Linda Stoltzfoos.

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