Church member held in Bucks slaying

A 65-year-old Bucks County woman with a crush on her minister was charged yesterday with the Jan. 23 murder in a church office of a fellow congregant whom she viewed as her rival, authorities said.

Mary Jane Fonder of Kintnersville faces first-degree murder charges in the shooting death of Rhonda Lynn Smith, 42, at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in upper Bucks County.

"She sang in the choir with the victim. She attended church service with the victim. She would attend church functions with the victim," Bucks County District Attorney Michelle Henry said.

Smith, of Hellertown, was found mortally wounded around 1 p.m. in the office of the rural church in Springfield Township. She had been working there as a volunteer receptionist, answering the phones while the pastor was at a three-day retreat.

She had been shot twice: One bullet grazed her forehead, and the other entered the right side of her head. She died several hours after being found.

Authorities said that Fonder, having learned that Smith would be in the church alone, shot her with a .38-caliber revolver, then drove off to have her hair done in Quakertown. She later threw the handgun into Lake Nockamixon, near her home, police said.

The apparent motive, Henry said, was jealousy.

The pastor, Gregory Shreaves, told police that Fonder, a 14-year church member, "had been calling him repeatedly and appeared to have romantic intentions toward him," according to a probable cause affidavit. Shreaves "said this was not mutual and he had made that clear to Fonder."

Fonder persisted, however, calling Shreaves constantly and once walking into his unlocked home and leaving food in his refrigerator for him. At one point, the pastor told police, he blocked her home telephone number to keep her from calling him.

Meanwhile, Smith, who struggled with mental illness, was receiving counseling and spiritual support from Shreaves, as well as financial assistance from the church.

Fonder "was jealous of the fact that the victim was getting attention" from Shreaves and other church members, Henry said.

Shreaves expressed "disbelief" yesterday after Fonder's arrest. "Not in my wildest dreams, no one in the congregation could imagine that it could have led to this," he said.

Many initially assumed that Smith, who had battled bipolar disorder for two decades, had committed suicide. But as weeks passed, and it became apparent that police had not recovered a gun, speculation grew.

The break came Saturday, when a Quakertown man and his son, out fishing at Lake Nockamixon, found a .38-caliber Rossi revolver and a box of ammunition in shallow water near the shore.

The man, Wheylin Sylsberry, told police the gun had three spent cartridges and two live rounds. He emptied it and called police when he got home, the affidavit said.

The weapon was registered to Fonder, "and forensic analysis established that this was the gun that was used to kill the victim," Henry said.

Two days before the slaying, Fonder had called the church and spoken to Smith, and learned that Smith was working there alone, Henry said. Fonder told police she was looking for an apartment and that Smith had suggested she look at a vacant unit in her apartment building in Hellertown.

On the morning of the slaying, Fonder had an 11:30 a.m. appointment at the Holiday Hair Salon in Quakertown. Fonder told police she had left her home, three miles from the church, at 11 a.m. She arrived for her appointment at 11:25.

The last computer activity at Smith's desk in the church office was at 10:55 a.m. Police drove the route from Fonder's home and determined that she would have had ample time to drive to the church, shoot Smith, and make it to her hair appointment.

Compared with Fonder, Smith was a relatively new member at Trinity, having joined two years ago. A few weeks before her slaying, friends recalled, she had stood in the sanctuary and thanked the congregation for embracing her so warmly.

And now, Shreaves said, he will have to stand in that sanctuary and explain the inexplicable to his 310-member flock.

"I'm going to have to just pray," he said, "that I'll be given the right words to say."