Retired Pastor David Zandstra has been found not guilty of the 1975 murder of 8-year-old Gretchen Harrington.
It reportedly took jurors roughly an hour to reach the verdict.
Zandstra was arrested in November 2023 and charged with criminal homicide, murder in the first, second, and third degree, kidnapping, and possessing an instrument of crime. His arrest came after he allegedly confessing to investigators in July 2023.
The case of Harrington’s murder had gone cold for nearly five decades until a child sexual abuse survivor identified Zandstra as her abuser. At the time of the abuse, which allegedly also took place in 1975, Zandstra was the pastor of Trinity Church Chapel Christian Reformed Church in Marple, Pennsylvania.
The survivor told investigators that she was friends with Zandstra’s daughter and that Zandstra assaulted her while she was at a sleepover in his home.
Investigators then linked Zandstra to the murder of Harrington, who went missing on Aug. 15, 1975, while walking to a summer Bible camp. The Bible camp utilized the facilities of Trinity Church Chapel, as well as the nearby Reformed Presbyterian Church, where Harrington’s father was pastor. The two churches and Harrington’s home were all on the same road in the small township west of Philadelphia.
In October 1975, skeletal remains were discovered at the nearby Ridley Creek State Park. Police later confirmed that the remains were Harrington’s.
Zandstra presided over Harrington’s funeral.
When investigators came to interview Zandstra in 2023 in Marrietta, Georgia, where he had since moved, Zandstra allegedly told them that he had murdered Harrington after attempting to molest her.
At trial, Zandstra’s defense team alleged that investigators had manipulated and tricked Zandstra into confessing to a crime he did not commit. Zandstra was 83 years old at the time of the lengthy interview with investigators.
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