Man who gave interview about body found in creek arrested after it is revealed that victim is his mother
The day was June 7. A murder had just taken place in a small rural town in the US and reporters rushed to the scene so that they could interview witnesses about the crime. Like most news outlets, all of the local reporters rushed to the scene because they wanted to be the first one to report the incident. Once there, the news outlets were met by a man called Matthew Haverly who was surprisingly happy to talk to them about the gruesome crime.
On the same day, around 5.30 in the evening, a driver working for UPS spotted the body of a woman floating in a creek. The body was discovered in the Wyalusing Township in Pennsylvania, USA, just metres across from Haverly's house
He told the reporters who had reached the crime scene that he was shocked that something this terrible could happen in the little town he called home. He told WNEP reporter Kristina Papa in an interview, "I was driving out earlier … I saw all the state police out there, I was like 'What’s going on?'. Now I realize that’s what they were actually doing. I had no clue."
The police, however, have alleged that Haverly, for all his shock that was portrayed for the cameras, knew exactly what happened. They arrested him only a few hours after he gave the interview after they found out that the woman who was found dead turned out to be his own mother, 60-year-old Patricia Haverly.
Haverly seemed almost too keen on giving the interview and during his time in front of the camera, he offered the reporter insane theories about how the "woman" was killed. One of the theories had him blaming gang violence on the old woman being the target of "some kind of hit".
He said in the interview, "Something went bad, and this is like a rural area, so they just wanted to plant the body somewhere else besides wherever the hell they were from. It would be like a place where people from the city would want to put a body because most likely it wouldn’t be found."
Haverly also said in the interview that he knew something was not right the moment he heard the repeated beeping of a horn from the road close to his home. This happened to be the UPS driver trying to get the attention of someone after spotting the victim's body.
He said, "When you hear someone trying to honk and honk and honk around here it raises a flag because it’s very quiet."
In what is a chilling quote from the interview, Haverly said that he was sad that the murder had left someone out there without a "daughter, mother, (and) child". He further added that his own mother would be frightened right now for her safety. The man was arrested just a few hours after giving the interview.
Haverly said, "It’s sad to say that’s someone’s either daughter, mother, whatever, both, child. I’m guessing my mother, she would be concerned. Probably a lot of the other neighbors would be concerned."
According to CNN, the authorities have stated that Haverly was formally charged with criminal homicide and the abuse of a corpse.
One state trooper, who had responded to the scene of the crime, had reportedly become very suspicious after he saw Haverly's interview. It was the officer who uncovered the evidence that allegedly connected the man to the murder a few hours later.
On June 9, less than 24 hours after the body of Patricia Haverly was found in the creek by the UPS driver, Haverly was arrested.
A post-mortem exam of the mother's body was done by the Bradford County coroner but they are yet to reveal what caused her untimely death.