Police say the man accused of murdering Ronald Bettig told them he believed he could profit from the Penn State professor’s death, and that he lured Bettig to a quarry by claiming he had marijuana plants there that they could harvest.
George Gene Ishler Jr. of Pennsylvania Furnace is accused of pushing the 56-year-old Bettig from a ledge at the quarry, where Bettig fell nearly 80 feet to his death. Ishler was charged on Friday with first-degree murder, third-degree murder, aggravated assault and tampering with evidence. Bettig, a Lemont resident, was reported missing on Monday, and his body was found at the bottom of a ravine on Wednesday after his vehicle was discovered nearby.
Ishler was arraigned by District Judge Thomas Jordan and denied bail. Ishler is being held at the Centre County Correctional Facility and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 31.
According to the criminal complaint filed Friday, Ishler allegedly told Pennsylvania State Police at Rockview that he and Danelle Rae Geier, who had been living with Bettig, told Bettig that Ishler had been growing marijuana plants that they could harvest at a quarry near the intersection of Rimmey Road and Brush Valley Road in Potter Township.
When the three arrived at the quarry, Bettig and Ishler got out of Bettig’s car, while Geier stayed with the vehicle. Ishler allegedly admitted to intentionally pushing Bettig over the cliff. Police say Geier gave a similar account in an interview on Thursday, stating that Ishler told her he intentionally pushed Bettig off the cliff. She allegedly also helped Ishler in returning Bettig’s car to the quarry. When they returned, according to the court documents, Ishler allegedly staged the scene with items from Bettig’s home, including water bottles, a flashlight, a hand rake and a bag.
Court records did not show any charges against Geier as of Friday evening.
Ishler allegedly told police ‘that Bettig recently signed a new last will of testament and there was a possibility for financial gain for both Geier and Ishler if Bettig was deceased.’ Ishler allegedly said he had the original copy of the will at his Pennsylvania Furnace residence.
Ishler and Geier had initially planned to drown Bettig while the three were on a trip to Rehoboth Beach, Del., Ishler allegedly told police. On their return home, Ishler and Geier allegedly came up with the marijuana plant ruse while away from Bettig at a gas station.
It was Ishler who reported Bettig missing to State College Police on Monday. Ishler allegedly told police at the time that he and Geier last saw Bettig on the evening of Aug. 12 when the three returned from the beach trip.
In follow-up interviews, Ishler allegedly told a State College Police detective that on Aug. 12 he and Bettig got into an argument because he did not like the way Bettig treated Geier while they were at the beach. Ishler allegedly said Bettig was upset with how Geier was raising her child, and that Bettig had grabbed Geier’s arm and left a mark.
When Ishler and Geier, whom the criminal complaint describes as ‘known drug users,’ first spoke to police, they allegedly said it was possible Bettig had left for California, ‘based upon conversations they had with him in the past.’
Bettig was an associate professor of media studies in Penn State’s College of Communications and according to the criminal complaint was on FMLA leave. According to the college’s website, he joined the Penn State faculty in 1988 and taught undergraduate and graduate courses on ‘the political economy of communications.’
