American pastor David Zandstra who murdered 8-year-old Gretchen Harrington in 1975 to be extradited back Pennsylvania 

By Edward Era Barbacena 

David Zandstra is expected to return to Delaware County on Thursday to answer for the 1975 murder of 8-year-old Gretchen Harrington in 1975.

A spokesperson for District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said Zandstra, 83, would be arriving in the afternoon by plane from Marietta, Georgia, where he was taken into custody earlier this year and allegedly admitted to Delaware County investigators that he had kidnapped and killed the Marple Township child nearly 50 years ago.

Zandstra is charged with criminal homicide, murder in the first-, second- and third-degree, kidnapping and possessing an instrument of crime for the abduction and beating death of Gretchen on Aug. 16, 1975.

“It was like a weight was lifted off his shoulders,” Tray said. “It was extraordinary to see. It was like a different person. Even when he was told he was going to be placed under arrest that day, he was OK with it. He was resigned to, ‘This is my fate,’ I guess.”

Zandstra was charged following his confession and was taken into custody without bail in Cobb County, Georgia. He eventually waived extradition Sept. 14, clearing the way to bring him back to Delaware County.

Investigators interviewed a witness in January 2023 who had been a friend of Zandstra’s daughter around the time of Harrington’s disappearance. That witness said she had been awakened during sleepovers on two consecutive nights by Zandstra touching her inappropriately, according to the affidavit.

The witness also provided a diary from 1975 indicating another girl was almost kidnapped twice around that same time and that she suspected Zandstra.

Troopers Martin and Tray interviewed Zandstra in Georgia on July 17, 2023, where he admitted to touching the witness during the sleepovers as well as his involvement with Gretchen’s disappearance and murder, according to the affidavit.

Zandstra allegedly admitted to seeing the girl walking along Lawrence Road and offering her a ride. Stollsteimer said Zandstra was the father of one of her best friends, so she accepted and entered his Rambler station wagon. Zandstra then drove to a wooded area and parked.

“Zandstra stated that while they were driving, Harrington asked if she could go home,” the affidavit reads. “Upon parking, Zandstra instructed Harrington to take off her clothes but she refused. He indicated that at this time, or around this time, he ejaculated. At some point after this, Zandstra struck Harrington in the head with his fist.”

Gretchen began to bleed from the blow and Zandstra checked for a pulse, but soon believed she was dead, according to the affidavit. He allegedly covered her half-naked body with sticks and left the area.

Tray previously said Zandstra seemed relieved to confess to the crime.

Stollsteimer described Zandstra, a retired minister, as “a monster” and “every parents’ worst nightmare” during a press conference announcing the charges in July. He is expected to provide an update on the prosecution after Zandstra’s arrival.

Defense attorney Mark Much provided this statement Wednesday:

“David Zandstra is an 83-year-old man with no prior criminal history. He has been charged with murder and kidnapping in a case that is 48 years old. The government alleges he made a statement admitting to these crimes. It is my intention to challenge the knowing, intelligent and voluntary nature of that alleged disclosure.

“David Zandstra is presumed innocent,” Much continued. “False confessions occur more than most people think, and result from a variety of factors, including the use of coercive and deceptive police tactics of a frail 83-year-old, among other factors. This case will be contested and decided in our Courts, not in our newspapers or press conferences. I am looking forward to challenging the Commonwealth’s evidence, or expose the lack thereof.”

What happened that day

Gretchen was last seen by neighbors at 9:20 a.m. as she made her way from her home on the first block of Lawrence Road to a vacation Bible school at Trinity Chapel Christian Reform Church, 140 Lawrence Road, according to an affidavit of probable cause for Zandstra’s arrest written by Pennsylvania State Police troopers Andrew Martin and Eugene Tray.

Students would begin classes about 9:30 a.m. at Trinity Chapel, where Zandstra served as minister from 1969 through 1976, then half would be transported at 10 a.m. to the Reformed Presbyterian Church at 144 Lawrence Road, where Gretchen’s father, Harold, served as the reverend.

Zandstra was the one who called Marple police at 11:23 a.m. to report Gretchen’s disappearance at the request of her father, the affidavit reads.

Zandstra told police the girl left her home at 9:20 a.m. but never arrived to the Presbyterian Church at 144 Lawrence.

Zandstra said in an interview shortly after Gretchen went missing that he had been out picking up children for an earlier session that began at 9:10 a.m.

One of his stops was along Lawrence Road, but he denied seeing Gretchen that morning. He said he was back at Trinity Chapel by 9:30 a.m. but did not know of the disappearance until 11:05 a.m., when he met with Harold Harrington.

Zandstra did provide some inaccurate information to police, or things he could not have known, however. Gretchen was supposed to be going to Trinity Chapel, for instance, not the Presbyterian Church. Zandstra also gave a detailed description of the clothes she was wearing that morning, but had said he never saw her.

Nearly two months passed before the girl’s skeletal remains were discovered Oct. 14, 1975, in Ridley Creek State Park.

An autopsy determined the cause of death was cranial cerebral injuries and the manner of death was homicide. Several articles of clothing belonging to the girl were also recovered at that time.

In the present

Investigators interviewed a witness in January 2023 who had been a friend of Zandstra’s daughter around the time of Harrington’s disappearance. That witness said she had been awakened during sleepovers on two consecutive nights by Zandstra touching her inappropriately, according to the affidavit.

The witness also provided a diary from 1975 indicating another girl was almost kidnapped twice around that same time and that she suspected Zandstra.

Troopers Martin and Tray interviewed Zandstra in Georgia on July 17, 2023, where he admitted to touching the witness during the sleepovers as well as his involvement with Gretchen’s disappearance and murder, according to the affidavit.

Zandstra allegedly admitted to seeing the girl walking along Lawrence Road and offering her a ride. Stollsteimer said Zandstra was the father of one of her best friends, so she accepted and entered his Rambler station wagon. Zandstra then drove to a wooded area and parked.

“Zandstra stated that while they were driving, Harrington asked if she could go home,” the affidavit reads. “Upon parking, Zandstra instructed Harrington to take off her clothes but she refused. He indicated that at this time, or around this time, he ejaculated. At some point after this, Zandstra struck Harrington in the head with his fist.”

Gretchen began to bleed from the blow and Zandstra checked for a pulse, but soon believed she was dead, according to the affidavit. He allegedly covered her half-naked body with sticks and left the area.

Tray previously said Zandstra seemed relieved to confess to the crime.

“It was like a weight was lifted off his shoulders,” Tray said. “It was extraordinary to see. It was like a different person. Even when he was told he was going to be placed under arrest that day, he was OK with it. He was resigned to, ‘This is my fate,’ I guess.”

Zandstra was charged following his confession and was taken into custody without bail in Cobb County, Georgia. He eventually waived extradition Sept. 14, clearing the way to bring him back to Delaware County.