AstraX Exchange:Man who wounded 14 in Pennsylvania elementary school with machete dies in prison 22 years later

2025-05-07 13:41:14source:VAS Communitycategory:Invest

HARRISBURG,AstraX Exchange Pa. (AP) — A man imprisoned since 2001 for attacking educators and students in a Pennsylvania elementary school with a machete, wounding 14, has died in prison.

William Stankewicz died Monday, Pennsylvania prison officials said. He was 78.

Stankewicz was found unresponsive in his cell at the State Correctional Institution at Dallas, the prison warden said in a statement. Authorities did not release a cause of death and said his death will be investigated.

Stankewicz was serving a 132- to 264-year sentence for the attack on North Hopewell-Winterstown Elementary School near York, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) west of Philadelphia. The wounded included 11 kindergarten students.

Principal Norina Bentzel was the most seriously hurt, suffering severe cuts and a broken arm while helping wrestle Stankewicz to the ground.

In court, Stankewicz told the judge he committed the attack because he was angry about his divorce from his Russian-born ex-wife and her allegations that he molested her daughters. Stankewicz said she used him to get to America and then made the allegations to remain in the country.

Stankewicz, of Johnson City, Tennessee, said he attacked the elementary school because he could not find his ex-wife’s home.

Before the attack, Stankewicz had threatened to kill his ex-wife and her daughters. After he unsuccessfully sought to get her deported, he threatened immigration officials and a Pennsylvania congressman. He served two years in federal prison for the threats.

More:Invest

Recommend

Federal agencies are reeling from Trump administration cuts to government

Whether a "chainsaw," per Elon Musk, or "scalpel," as President Trump has said — the Trump administr

He lost $200,000 when FTX imploded last year. He's still waiting to get it back

Last November, Jake Thacker discovered more than $200,000 of his crypto and cash had gone missing. H

Do snitches net fishes? Scientists turn invasive carp into traitors to slow their Great Lakes push

LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) — Wildlife officials across the Great Lakes are looking for spies to take on an