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Two homeless men arrested in fatal shooting of Mary Whitaker
SHERMAN, N.Y. -- Authorities have reportedly arrested two Pennsylvania homeless men in connection with the fatal shooting of Greencastle native Mary Elizabeth Whitaker at her summer home earlier this week in southwestern New York State.
It is believed the 61-year-old professional violinist was shot to death late Tuesday or early Wednesday while reportedly trying to thwart a robbery on the rural Chautauqua County property she frequented each summer from late June to early September.
Deputies discovered her body inside the garage at her home about 4:20 p.m. Wednesday. Her car later was found in Erie, which is a short distance from Chautauqua County.
Police and federal agents Friday arrested Jonathan M. Conklin, 43, who reportedly lives among the Erie, Pa., homeless population, and Charles R. Sanford, 30, who authorities also suspect is homeless but with a last-known address in Erie.
A man appearing to be Conklin was reportedly seen on video using Whitaker's credit card in Erie, Sheriff Joseph Gerace said at a press conference Friday evening. However, officials declined to say why Sanford is considered a suspect.
Conklin and Sanford are to be arraigned in U.S. District Court in Buffalo on federal charges of carjacking, using a gun during a felony and bringing stolen property across state lines.
A grand jury will consider state murder charges, District Attorney David Foley said.
Whitaker, a 1971 Greencastle High School graduate who worked out of New York City but toured the world with performers like Barbra Streisand, reportedly died from a gunshot wound to the head.
She was also shot in the chest and leg and suffered bruises to her head, injuries that police said could indicate her assailants tried to coerce information from her before she died.
That could mean intruders believed the victim may have had a large quantity of cash in the home, which could be a possible motive in the case, authorities said.
Earlier reports suggested she apparently confronted individuals who were trying to steal a John Deere tractor during a home invasion at the property near Lake Erie where the home sits on a hill between the small towns of Sherman and Westfield.
Deputies were dispatched to Whitaker's property Wednesday after a fellow orchestra member and her husband went to the victim's rural home to check on her well-being when they couldn't reach her via phone. She reportedly had an appointment with an orchestra member and the couple knew it was unusual they had not heard from her.
She was the daughter of the late John and Frances Whitaker, who owned and operated Whitaker Funeral Home (now Bittles and Hurt) in Greencastle throughout much of the 1950s, '60s and '70s.
She moved to New York City after graduating from Indiana University with a performance degree in violin.
Her surviving sister, Martha, resides in St. Louis.
For more than 30 years she has been associated with several major freelance orchestras in New York, toured regularly with the New York City Opera company and took part in Streisand's 2006-07 international tour.
A member of the Westchester Philharmonic for 25 years, Whitaker was a played regularly on Broadway for shows like "The Lion King," and spent the summer months performing with the Chautauqua Symphony the past 35 years.
Recently she had just become an accomplished bow restringing technician for violins and other string instruments and had set up a shop at her Manhattan apartment.