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Pennsylvania Man Sentenced to 43 to 100 Years for Killing Witness With Fentanyl

Prosecutors say the killing targeted a witness who had cooperated in a Maryland shooting probe.

Overview

  • Steven Gaddis, 28, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit third-degree murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping, and witness intimidation, and a judge sentenced him to 43 to 100 years in prison.
  • Investigators say Gaddis and two cousins of 25-year-old Matthew Whisman beat him at a home on Lancaster Pike on April 3, 2024, forced him into a vehicle, and injected him with a lethal dose of fentanyl.
  • Authorities allege Gaddis and one cousin threw Whisman’s body off a bridge, and a camp counselor found his remains in August 2024 near a hiking trail in Cecil County, Maryland.
  • Officials say Whisman was attacked because he had cooperated with police investigating a separate shooting in Maryland in early 2024 in which Gaddis was a suspect.
  • Cases against co-defendants Alexander Whisman, 19, and Jeremy Absher, 26, remain pending according to the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office.