Joseph Dankesreiter, Jr. (Pennsylvania State Police via PennLive Patriot-News).
A Pennsylvania man on trial for allegedly trying to kill his wife is accused of setting up a trip wire that would cause her to fall to her death in the couple’s home.
The jury trial for William Joseph Dankesreiter Jr., 63, got underway in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, this week. According to the Pennsylvania news website PennLive, prosecutors intend to show that he tried to kill his wife in 2020 by forcing her to take a fatal fall down the basement stairs in their home in Derry Township, around 100 miles west of Philadelphia.
Laura Dankesreiter told investigators that on Oct. 2, 2020, she tripped on something as she was on her way down to the basement to get something from the freezer for breakfast, PennLive reported, citing court filings. She was able to catch herself before she fell down the wooden staircase, and reportedly noticed that a piece of fishing line was attached to the walls with two metal hooks about three inches above the carpet.
Prosecutors intend to tell jurors of the Dankesreiters unraveling marriage, with witnesses testifying that William Dankesreiter, who also goes by the nickname B.J., was allegedly in a relationship with another woman.
“His happiness and sexual satisfaction were more important than Laura,” prosecutors said Monday during opening statements, PennLive reported.
Prosecutors also allege that Joseph Dankesreiter planned to kill his wife and collect a $300,000 life insurance policy, according to PennLive.
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Defense attorneys reportedly intend to cast a pall on Laura Dankesreiter, who they say provided all the evidence police needed to arrest her husband, and the police accepted it without question. The defense also reportedly plans to refute evidence of the alleged affair and will imply that the whole thing is a setup by Laura Dankesreiter, PennLive reported.
According to court records, Dankesreiter is charged with attempted criminal homicide, assault, aggravated assault, and reckless endangerment.
At the time of the arrest, police reportedly said that it was one of the most bizarre alleged attempted murders they had seen.
“If she had fallen, there were about 10 steps she would have fallen down and there is a small landing area,” trooper Stephen Limani said, according to Pittsburgh CBS affiliate KDKA.
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