Pa. Teen Reported Seized; Parents Killed

[chadlnc]

Has anyone else seen this story?

Couple killed, daughter abducted



An 18-year-old man is believed to have shot dead the parents of his 14-year-old girlfriend and abducted her yesterday in Pennsylvania.
Michael and Cathryn Borden, both 50, were found dead at home in Warwick Township, 60 miles west of Philadelphia, police said. Their daughter, was missing. Police said that she was last seen at home yesterday.


The family knew the suspect, identified by police as David Ludwig, and said that he had occasionally seen the girl at her home. Stephanie Mannon, 16, a neighbour, said Mr Ludwig and the girl had been seeing each other secretly. “Their parents didn’t approve of them being together because of the age difference,” she said. “It wasn’t because he was a shady character, because he wasn’t.”
The Bordens’ son David, 9, ran to a neighbour’s house and called police. Another daughter and two sons were also safe.
----------------------

I used to babysit her (the girl that has been kidnapped) and her older sister and was good friends with her two older brothers. Her parents were some of the nicest people I have ever met. I was going to see them in early December, they were planning to come down for a wedding. I'm still in shock about this.

[brainsmile]

wow... keep us posted

[ShawnLee]

Wow, I'm sorry to hear this. I assume that it's difficult to lose people you were close to and I wish I could sympathize but I don't even know how to relate. I feel for you and I certainly hope that this girl is alright.

[eSDee]

Oh man that sucks. I'm very sorry to hear it ChadInc. I hope that she is found.

[gats]

crazy stuff...hope everything turns out ok

[nickel]

http://www.foxnews.com/images/183483/4_26_borden_kara_beth.jpg http://www.foxnews.com/images/183483/4_25_ludwig_david.jpg

so sad, so stupid, and so either going to commit another murder and then a suicide or else going to jail for life.

[MikeD]

Wow. Two good looking young folks. It's a pretty sad case, because there is so much lost (and so much left to lose...).

:shake:

[bachviet]

Kids... :2far:

[esme]

does anyone think that there's a possibility that she was in it w/him?? sad to think it but maybe that's how bad she wanted to be w/him and she really wasn't abducted .....

very sad about her parents .....the poor kids :(


i can relate to you (on some level) ......my friend went through a similar event .....she was stabbed to death by an x-bf. .....what goes through people's minds when they do this! ....SO SAD!! :disa:

[nickel]

just heard they were caught in Indiana.

guess we'll find out if she went willingly or not, but i gotta say, what kid wants their parents killed like that?

[chadlnc]

does anyone think that there's a possibility that she was in it w/him?? sad to think it but maybe that's how bad she wanted to be w/him and she really wasn't abducted .....

very sad about her parents .....the poor kids :(


i can relate to you (on some level) ......my friend went through a similar event .....she was stabbed to death by an x-bf. .....what goes through people's minds when they do this! ....SO SAD!! :disa:

From everything I have read so far I do not think she was involved. It sounds like there was an argument and Mike asked the kid to leave and walked him to the door (Mike was a real passive guy) and the kid turned around and shot him in the head, then shot Cathy and according to Katelyn's account the kid then went looking for Kara to get her to go with him.

[angl2b]

I heard about this on TV I think last night or something - I am sorry to hear that this happened to someone so close to you.
Please keep us posted - let us know if they find the girl and the guy. I'll keep this in my prayers

[nickel]

I heard about this on TV I think last night or something - I am sorry to hear that this happened to someone so close to you.
Please keep us posted - let us know if they find the girl and the guy. I'll keep this in my prayers
see my post above ;)

[chadlnc]

I heard about this on TV I think last night or something - I am sorry to hear that this happened to someone so close to you.
Please keep us posted - let us know if they find the girl and the guy. I'll keep this in my prayers

They have been found. They were captured at 12:30 eastern time in Indiana. I ran the mielege and it looks like they made it about 630 miles or so.

Thanks for keeping them in mind. One of the worst things is that there are now three orphaned children. I know this happens everyday, it is just hard to fully understand until it happens to someone close and you have to start thinking about the logistics of the situation.

[angl2b]

oops - sorry didn't read the thread throughly... sorry.

It is sad that there are 3 orphans - any other relatives close by?

[Memo]

****ing Marilyn Manson and Grand Theft Auto!

[nickel]

http://www.foxnews.com/images/183608/9_26_111505_ludwig.jpg


Teen Suspect Charged With Murder, Kidnapping
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
BELLEVILLE, Ind. — An 18-year-old suspected of gunning down his girlfriend's parents and fleeing with her in tow returned to Pennsylvania Tuesday and was charged with double murder and kidnapping.

David Ludwig was flown back from Indiana — where he and his 14-year-old girlfriend, Kara Beth Borden, were arrested some 600 miles from the crime scene a day earlier.

In court at his arraignment hearing, a reportedly calm Ludwig was charged with two counts of criminal homicide, one count of kidnapping and one count of reckless endangerment. No bail was set and he did not enter a plea.

A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Nov. 23, after which he is entitled to a jury trial.

Ludwig — who was taken to Lancaster County Prison — faces life behind bars or the death penalty for the most serious, double-murder offense. He doesn't yet have an attorney.

He told the judge that he understood the charges against him, has no prior criminal record, is not addicted to drugs or alcohol, lives at home and works at Circuit City.
guardian for Kara Borden was appointed Tuesday and the girl arrived back in Lancaster County, Pa., where she was re-united with her family.

Earlier Tuesday, Ludwig waived extradition. Hendricks County Prosecutor Patricia Baldwin said the teen signed documents at the Hendricks County Jail in Danville, Ind., that cleared the way for Pennsylvania authorities to take him home to face murder charges.

The young suspect arrived by plane in Pennsylvania, where police escorted him away in an orange-and-white striped jail suit, his wrists and ankles in shackles. He was reportedly cooperating with authorities.

Kara was unhurt in the ordeal but was described as emotionally overwrought and "frantic."

"Kara is upset. She’s crying," said Warwick County Police Chief Richard Garipoli of Pennsylvania in a news conference Tuesday. "She’s a 14-year-old child. We seem to forget that. She’s devastated."

She hadn't yet been questioned by authorities, who were thus far not treating her as a suspect.

"She is the victim in this case until I hear otherwise," Garipoli said.

It was still unclear whether Ludwig kidnapped his girlfriend or whether she left with him willingly after her parents, Michael F. and Cathryn Lee Borden, were shot to death early Sunday. It also wasn't yet known whether Kara had any role in the killings.

Few details were known about the pair's trip. Authorities said they don't know the route they traveled, if they had family or friends in Indiana or if they were simply passing through the state.

Ludwig was arrested Monday after he crashed his parents' red Jetta head-on into a tree in Belleville, Ind., about 20 miles west of Indianapolis. He was held in a jail in Danville, Ind., until he was flown back to his home state.

Police say Ludwig killed Borden's parents after they and their daughter argued about her curfew when she came home late from a night out with him. The shootings happened at the family's home near Lititz, Pa., about 60 miles west of Philadelphia. Neither her parents nor his approved of the couple's relationship, mainly because of the age difference, according to various reports.

The Bordens, both 50, were apparently shot once each in the head, authorities said. Mike Borden worked for a printing company, and the children were home-schooled, said neighbor Tod Sherman. Sherman said the family knew Ludwig through a home-schooling network.

Kara's 13-year-old sister, Katelyn, told investigators her parents were shot after they argued with Ludwig for about an hour, according to court papers.

Katelyn said she saw Ludwig shoot her father, and then ran into the bathroom, where she heard a second shot, presumably the one that killed her mother, court papers said. Ludwig then ran through the house calling for Kara, she told investigators.

The couple's 9-year-old son ran to the neighbors, who called 911.

"It's completely insane, completely insane," Lancaster County, Pa., Coroner G. Gary Kirchner said. "This isn't a Romeo-and-Juliet deal. This is far worse than that."

An alert for the girl was issued across the East, and police in Pennsylvania and Indiana investigated reported sightings of the pair as they made their way west in a red Volkswagen Jetta.

Authorities received a report Monday morning of a vehicle matching that description at a truck stop near Fort Wayne. Troopers went to the area, but the car was gone.

Information about the car was broadcast to police statewide and troopers spotted it around midday on I-70 in Belleville, said Indiana State Police 1st Sgt. Dave Bursten.

Ludwig got off the interstate and led them on a 5-mile chase at speeds of 90 mph to 95 mph on a two-lane state road, police said. Indiana Trooper David Cox said Ludwig was "very reckless and very dangerous at that point," meeting vehicles head-on and running them into a ditch.

Bobby Poteet, 36, a former volunteer firefighter who witnessed the final accident said he heard sirens and watched the three cars speed by, before Ludwig's car careened into a tree.

"They were flying," he said.

After officers pulled Ludwig from the car, Borden got out and was "frantic," screaming and crying, Cox said.

No weapons were found in the car.

Stephanie Mannon, 16, who worked with Ludwig, said the two had been seeing each other secretly. "Their parents didn't approve of them being together" because of the age difference, she said. "It wasn't because he was a shady character, because he wasn't.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,175579,00.html

[chadlnc]

I'm not sure where they are getting their info from but Katelyn is older than Kara, yet everywhere I read they say Katelyn is 13.

[johnnymk]

Prosecutors Say Pa. Girl Wasn't Kidnapped

By MARK SCOLFORO
The Associated Press

LANCASTER, Pa. - A 14-year-old girl whose 18-year-old boyfriend is accused of killing her parents left with him willingly after the slayings, prosecutors said in court papers filed Monday.

David Ludwig told detectives Kara Borden ran from her home and into his car after he shot her parents Nov. 13, and Borden said she went with him of her own free will, according to documents filed by Lancaster County prosecutors. They said kidnapping charges against Ludwig would be dropped.

Ludwig confessed to the killings, saying he shot the parents after the father told him to stop seeing his daughter, according to the filing. Ludwig said he shot Michael Borden in the back as he was going down the hallway to the front door and then headed toward Cathryn Borden.

"I shot mom as she was sitting in the chair," Ludwig was quoted as saying. "It was an intentional murder, I intended to shoot them, and I did."

Ludwig told detectives that after the killings, he couldn't find Kara Borden. He said he started to drive away and saw her running down the road toward him.

She got in the car and said she wanted to "get as far away as possible, get married, and start a new life," Ludwig told detectives.

District Attorney Donald Totaro said the kidnapping charge against Ludwig, of Lititz, will be dropped at his preliminary hearing next month.

Robert Beyer, an attorney representing Kara Borden, said he was not upset by the news that the kidnapping charge would be dropped.

Investigators have said they are treating Kara Borden as a crime victim but that the investigation is continuing.


Police caught up to Ludwig and Borden the day after the killings following a chase that ended with him crashing his parents' car into a tree in Belleville, Ind.

Earlier Monday, Indiana authorities released a search warrant affidavit for the car the couple drove nearly 600 miles from the murder scene in central Pennsylvania to Indiana.

Ludwig told Indiana State Police that a Glock semiautomatic pistol he used to kill the Bordens was under the driver's front seat of the car, according to the affidavit.

Police seized a .40-caliber Glock pistol and a .223-caliber rifle under a search warrant executed Wednesday.

Ludwig is being held without bail, awaiting a Dec. 16 preliminary hearing on murder charges.

In a signed statement he gave to Pennsylvania authorities, Ludwig said he went to the Borden home armed with several weapons. After Kara's father and Ludwig talked for 30 to 45 minutes, Michael Borden told the teen he could no longer see Kara.

"Ludwig said that's why he decided to shoot her dad and her mom," detectives said in the court papers.

James Gratton, a public defender representing Ludwig, said he was aware that Ludwig had given a statement to Indiana authorities, but did not know specifically what he told them.

In a court filing Friday, Ludwig's attorneys said they wanted investigators to preserve evidence in Ludwig's wallet, such as receipts from their journey, so that surveillance video could be obtained. They said the video would show he didn't kidnap the girl.

[Mommypooh]

whose to say she wasn't so scared of him at that point that she was in no way going to try to get away, just becuase survalience shows her not trying to get away does not mean he did not kidnap her. I mean who could have told her anything to make her stay. She was only 14 that means she still was a child in my eyes.

[chadlnc]

whose to say she wasn't so scared of him at that point that she was in no way going to try to get away, just becuase survalience shows her not trying to get away does not mean he did not kidnap her. I mean who could have told her anything to make her stay. She was only 14 that means she still was a child in my eyes.

I'd like to believe she didn't go willingly, but she has already admitted that he was already leaving the house and was about to drive away when she ran after him. I think they have known this for a while, but wanted to keep it under wraps until after the funeral.

They actually thought they were going to get away, get married and start a family. I'm really disappointed in her, but trying to keep in mind that she is 14.

[Mommypooh]

Poor stupid girl. What does she think now I wonder. I just heard on the news she went willingly. Did not know that until now. so ...

[navyones]

It is not real difficult for me to believe that the 14 year old went willingly. After all, she had just watched her parents murdered in cold blood. If this 14 year old is like most, her parents were her security.

The next best thing to her parents was her boyfriend.