Paul David Crews, who murdered two hikers 32 years ago on a section of the Appalachian Trail maintained by MCM, died in a Pennsylvania prison last month at age 70 of natural causes.
Geoffrey Hood and Molly LaRue, two southbound hikers on the Appalachian Trail, were about halfway through their trip from Maine to Georgia. They were murdered in their sleeping bags on September 13, 1990, at the Thelma Marks hiking shelter at the top of Cove Mountain south of Duncannon (now the site of MCM’s Cove Mountain shelter). Hood was shot three times with a revolver, and LaRue was found tied, raped, and stabbed. Crews was sentenced to death by a jury, but after appeals and technical challenges, in 2006 prosecutors agreed to drop the death penalty in exchange for two consecutive life sentences to stop his appeals.
In 2002, MCM opened its Cove Mountain shelter, which replaced the Thelma Marks shelter.
More information about this tragic event can be found at the following link: Appalachian Trail killer who targeted couple in Perry County dies in prison – pennlive.com.