SUNBURY — After a preliminary hearing Friday, all charges against a Selinsgrove man charged with murder have been sent to court. Edgar Gearhart is accused of fatally stabbing his mother’s boyfriend, Robert Blake of Sunbury. Testifying at today’s hearing was Northumberland County Coroner James Kelley, who was called to Sunbury Community Hospital March 18, where Blake was pronounced dead from a stab wound to the thigh. Kelley testified Blake’s femoral artery was severed, causing his death.
Police say Gearhart stabbed Blake in the thigh after an argument early that morning in an alley near Fifth Street. Sunbury Police Detective Jamie Quinn also testified at the hearing, saying that Edgar Gearhart stabbed his mother Amy Gearhart in the back, at the home of her friend Tara Michael.
Tara Michael testified that she and Amy were drinking at her home when Edgar and Robert Blake showed up. Michael said they were all sitting together, when Edgar allegedly got up to hug his mother Amy, and stabbed her in the back.
Michael said Edgar then left with Robert Blake and a short time later, police say he stabbed Blake in the thigh. Quinn testified that Edgar admitted to stabbing Robert Blake, but did not say he stabbed his mother. (Ali Stevens)