Neda Hoerner

Neda Hoerner, a 77-year-old woman, was known to sit by the picture window of her Susquehanna Township, Pennsylvania, home, watching the world go by on Walnut Street. She was infirm and required visits from a nurse, but she likely never knew that someone was also watching her. Her life ended violently on March 13, 1995, in a crime that would become part of a chilling series of murders of elderly women in the Harrisburg area.

That Monday morning at around 10:00 a.m., a visiting nurse arrived at Hoerner's residence to find it on fire. Just an hour earlier, another nurse had been there and left. Firefighters who responded to the blaze discovered Hoerner's battered body in her bedroom. An autopsy later revealed the horrific extent of her injuries. She had been brutally beaten, sexually assaulted, and strangled. The pathologist, Dr. Wayne Ross, noted that the stomping on her chest was so severe it had torn her pulmonary arteries and caused extensive trauma to her heart. She had broken ribs, and bruises on her head indicated her attacker had slammed it against a hard object. Unlike some of the other connected cases, investigators found semen on her body, a crucial piece of evidence.

The investigation by Susquehanna Township Police quickly uncovered clues. There were no signs of a forced entry into the home. A few blocks away from the crime scene, a box with Hoerner’s name on it, a towel from her house, and some coins were discovered at a bus stop, suggesting the killer had taken items from the residence. The brutality and nature of the crime led investigators to link it to the murders of other elderly women in the region, including Goldy Snyder and Lucy Crable. This pattern of violence pointed toward a serial offender.

Suspicion soon fell on Andrew Dillon, a parolee with a history of violence who was living in a nearby halfway house. Records showed that between January and March 1995, Dillon had signed out of the facility numerous times to attend a drug counseling center and seek jobs at a car wash, both located just a block or two from Hoerner’s home. His proximity to Hoerner and other victims, including M. Geneva Long, near whom he also lived, made him a person of interest.

Dillon was arrested on September 30, 1995, initially for the 1990 murder of Agnes DeLuca in Scranton. As the investigation into the Harrisburg-area slayings intensified, the evidence against him mounted. A search of his apartment in connection with the murder of Lucy Crable uncovered some of her stolen property. However, the most definitive link came from the Neda Hoerner case. Biological evidence recovered from the scene was tested, and the DNA profile was matched directly to Andrew Dillon. This scientific proof moved the case beyond circumstantial connections and firmly placed Dillon at the scene of one of the most violent murders in the series.

Faced with overwhelming evidence, including the DNA match from the Hoerner case and his own admissions, Andrew Dillon ultimately pleaded guilty to four murders: Agnes DeLuca, Goldy Snyder, Neda Hoerner, and Lucy Crable. To avoid potential death sentences, prosecutors reached agreements with Dillon. He received four consecutive life sentences for his crimes. The investigation also suggested Dillon may have been responsible for the murder of M. Geneva Long, a case for which two other men were wrongfully convicted before being exonerated years later. As of August 2026, the case is considered closed, with Andrew Dillon having been held responsible for the murder of Neda Hoerner and three other women.