By Jim Tuttle
The Public Opinion
CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. — A Chambersburg man had been out of jail mere hours before police began looking for him in connection with an incident of attempted homicide.
According to Pennsylvania State Police, Chambersburg, David Dalton Garner, 24, of 45 Greenlea Way, allegedly stabbed a St. Thomas man in the head, tried to suffocate him with a plastic bag, and then choked him with a belt.
When the victim’s mother returned home during the incident, which began about 2:30 p.m. Monday, Garner allegedly bound and robbed her, eventually fleeing with cash, credit cards and her vehicle, police said.
Garner remained at large Tuesday night. Police said the public should keep in mind that Garner apparently targeted the victim because they knew each other, but he should still be considered armed and dangerous.
When he spoke with police Monday afternoon, Micah McGowan, 25, suffered from a stab wound on the left side of his head, a cut on the back of his head, strangulation marks on his neck and bruises on his face, according to a police.
Chambersburg Hospital said Tuesday night that McGowan had since been discharged.
He told investigators that Garner was a “past friend” whom he had not seen in nearly nine months. In a statement issued Tuesday, police said the men “had been friends through grade school.”
A Franklin County Jail representative confirmed that Garner was released Monday morning after serving nearly nine months, since March 31. According to court records, he pleaded guilty in 2009 to receiving stolen property, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and huffing a toxic substance.
Police filed new charges against Garner early Tuesday. He faces counts of attempted criminal homicide, aggravated assault, and two counts of robbery, all first-degree felonies. He is also charged with robbery, theft, unlawful restraint and simple assault.
Police said Garner showed up about 2:30 p.m. Monday at McGowan’s home at 4746 Heckman Drive, St. Thomas. McGowan invited Garner inside, and gave him a drink of water. They went upstairs to watch television in McGowan’s bedroom.
After watching TV for a while, McGowan went to his desk to work on Christmas cards, according to police. While he was doing that, Garner allegedly hit him from behind, in the head, with a bathroom scale.
McGowan got up and headed for the bedroom door when Garner pulled a knife and stabbed him in the side of his head, according to police. McGowan said he passed out and woke up face down on the floor with his hands tied behind his back.
Garner allegedly put a plastic Wal-Mart bag over the bound man’s head. McGowan told police he could not breath at first, but managed to bite a hole in the bag with his teeth.
Next, Garner allegedly put a bathrobe belt around the victim’s neck and began strangling him from behind and asking where his valuables were. They went downstairs to the living room just before Micah McGowan’s mother, Mary McGowan, 54, returned home about 4 p.m.
She later told police that when she came in the back door, she heard her son yell, “Mom, run!” just before Garner appeared and ran toward her with a knife.
Garner allegedly forced the woman to lie face down on the floor. When she asked what he was doing, he told her that “he owed people money,” according to police. She told police he took $500 and credit cards from her purse, and made her write him a check for more money.
When Mary McGowan asked Garner if he intended to kill her and her son, he reportedly said no, but refused to let her tend to her son’s injuries. He asked if there were any guns in the house, but didn’t take them when she said there were.
According to police, Garner “instructed Mary to tell the police she was robbed by black men,” and told her that he owed $50,000 to “some bad men” who would hurt her family if law enforcement got involved.
Garner eventually untied the woman and helped Micah into a car so she could take him to Chambersburg Hospital for treatment, police said. He then got in McGowan’s other vehicle, a black 2008 Subaru Outback, and followed her out of the driveway.
Sometime before McGowan reached the hospital, Garner stopped following her. Police are now looking for him.
“The resources that we now have working this case are pretty extensive,” said Pennsylvania State Police spokesperson Trooper Tom Pinkerton on Tuesday.
Investigators spoke with Garner’s girlfriend, Heather Elaine Johnson, shortly before 8 p.m. Monday, according to police.
She told police that after Garner got out of Franklin County Jail at 9 a.m., he walked to a friend’s house and called her from a phone belonging to someone named “Lennie” to ask for a ride.
She picked him up and they were together at her house until about 1:45 p.m., when he “asked to borrow her car to go do something.” Johnson told police she refused to let him have the car, but agreed to take him. He allegedly directed her to the McGowan house and went to the front door.
Johnson left him there and went to work about 4 p.m. When she last saw Garner, he was wearing a white hooded South Pole shirt, blue jeans and tan boots. She told police that he hadn’t mentioned owing money to anyone and that he seemed to be in a good mood.
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