Man Charged With Murder Sticks Out Tongue At Victim's Family
EASTON, Pa. (AP/KDKA) - A man expected to plead guilty to murder in Pennsylvania shocked the court by declaring his innocence, sticking out his tongue at the victim's family and saying "ha ha ha ha" several times.
Jeffrey Knoble Jr. told a judge Thursday that he was "an innocent man" and was forced to take a guilty plea. He then turned to the victim's family and began taunting them.
Knoble is accused of shooting 32-year-old Andrew White in the back of the head in March 2015 in Easton and then recording video of White's corpse on a cellphone. Authorities say White had rented a room at the motel for Knoble because Knoble had no place to stay.
According to Lehighvalleylive.com, he yelled "Ha ha! Ha ha! Ha ha!" as people who came in support of the victim cried. Many of them wore t-shirts with White's image on them.
The judge tried to console family members as they left the court room.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am really sorry you had to put up with this. I regret you had to live with that. We'll dispose of this case appropriately," Judge Emil Giordano said.
Family members were disgusted.
"He's in there laughing, like it's some kind of joke?" White's cousin Spencer Fuller reportedly said after the hearing. "I can't even (expletive) speak, man."
The 26-year-old would have faced life in prison without parole had he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.
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