2 Sentenced To Life In Prison In Penn State Professor's Death

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BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) - A man and woman have been sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole in the death of a Penn State University professor who authorities say was pushed off a cliff at a quarry.

Jurors deliberated for about two hours after closing arguments Monday before convicting 41-year-old George Ishler and 34-year-old Danelle Geier of all charges, including first-degree murder which carries a mandatory life term.

Centre County prosecutors said the two lured 56-year-old Ronald Bettig to the quarry in 2016 with a story about harvesting marijuana, and Ishler then pushed him while Geier waited in the car with her toddler.

Ishler's attorney, Karen Muir, said the evidence supported suicide as the cause of death.

Geier, whose attorney said she acted under Ishler's "controlling and aggressive" influence, apologized before sentencing.

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