3rd victim in Pa. shooting rampage dies of wounds (AP)

PHILADELPHIA – A woman who was among five people shot during a rampage at her weekend home in eastern Pennsylvania died Thursday, the third victim in a home invasion that police said was orchestrated by an ex-convict later shot dead in a standoff.

The Lehigh County coroner's office said 58-year-old Monica Shay of New York City died of her injuries at a hospital in Allentown. Her nephew, 43-year-old Joseph Shay, and 2-year-old Gregory Erdmann, were killed in the shooting.

Monica Shay's husband, Paul, and the toddler's mother, 37-year-old Kathryn Erdmann of Fall River, Mass., were also shot but survived. Erdmann was the nephew's girlfriend.

Paul Shay owns a plumbing company in New York City. Monica Shay worked as the director of the arts and cultural management program at Pratt Institute.

"The Pratt Institute community is shocked and deeply saddened by Professor Monica Shay's untimely death," said Pratt Institute President Thomas F. Schutte. "Professor Shay was an esteemed educator who demonstrated inspiring leadership as head of the Institute's arts and cultural management program. Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to her family and friends and to all of those at the Institute whose lives she touched."

Police said ex-convict Mark Geisenheyner stormed the vacation house in Douglass Township on July 2 to seek revenge on Shay's husband. Authorities said this week that Geisenheyner, who died Monday in a standoff with police, claimed Paul Shay had cheated him in an insurance scam.

Since leaving prison last year, the 51-year-old Geisenheyner had been vowing revenge on Shay. He broke into the Shays' home late Saturday and said, "Guess you never thought you'd see me again," before shooting Shay in the head. Geisenheyner then shot the four others.

Paul Shay and Kathryn Erdmann are still hospitalized but have been talking to investigators.

Geisenheyner told friends that he had taken the rap and been cut out of the profits for an insurance scam he and Shay had concocted, investigators said earlier this week.

Geisenheyner was arrested for possessing artwork that had been reported stolen from the Shays' home in 2006 and was sent back to prison on a parole violation, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman said. Paul Shay was not apparently charged, and Ferman said she didn't know if there was any truth to Geisenheyner's account. Shay filed an insurance claim on the painting, which went missing about a month after a fire at his home.

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Escaped convict pleads not guilty in crime rampage (AP)

By DENISE LAVOIE, AP Legal Affairs Writer Denise Lavoie, Ap Legal Affairs Writer – Fri Jun 17, 4:24 pm ET

BOSTON – An escaped convict accused of shooting a Massachusetts barbershop customer to death and wounding two police officers in a retaliatory shooting sat in a wheelchair Friday as he pleaded not guilty to murder and 15 other charges.

Tamik Kirkland, 25, was ordered held without the right to bail during his arraignment in Hampden Superior Court in Springfield.

Kirkland, who was serving time on weapons convictions, escaped from the state's minimum-security prison in Shirley on April 25. Five days later, he allegedly went into a Springfield barbershop, wounded a barber and fatally shot a customer, then a short time later, opened fire on a state trooper and Springfield police officer.

Kirkland was shot six times during the shootout with police and has been recovering in an unspecified Department of Correction facility. The extent of his injuries was unclear. His lawyer, John Ferrara, declined to comment.

Authorities say Kirkland targeted the barber because the man's son shot and wounded Kirkland's mother days earlier. The customer, Sheldon Innocent, 24, of Wilbraham, was an unintended victim. Authorities said he had no connection to Kirkland or the shooting of Kirkland's mother.

The shootings rattled residents and surprised law enforcement officials.

"This was an extraordinarily serious crime for this entire county just because of the level of violence," said Hampden District Attorney Mark Mastroianni.

"This was violence right in the middle of the day committed by an individual who was an escapee from state prison. ... Then you have law enforcement down there who were so actively looking for him when he escaped. For it to come to the conclusion it did, with two officers getting shot, it's hard to explain how serious this was for us here in Hampden County."

The two police officers have recovered from their injuries. Mastroianni said their bulletproof vests saved them from more serious wounds.

The barber, whose name was not released, was seriously wounded.

Kirkland's escape might have been prevented if prison guards had followed procedures on checking inmates at night, a report by the state Department of Correction said.

The report, released in May, said a correctional officer was suspended and faces possible termination for not making sure he saw "living, breathing flesh" during inmate checks the night Kirkland escaped. It said an employee of a DOC vendor could face criminal prosecution for possibly giving Kirkland a cellphone that helped him in his escape. The vendor is also alleged to have had an intimate relationship with Kirkland while he was in prison.

A sergeant with the DOC is facing possible charges for allegedly making a threatening call to a hospital where Kirkland was being treated after he was shot.

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