Murder at 75 Birch

Wilkes-Barre, Pa., dentist Glen Wolsieffer, married and the father of a daughter, carried on two adulterous relationships, one of long duration. On August 30, 1986, police called to the family's home found his wife beaten and choked to death and Wolsieffer laying injured on the kitchen floor--in the opinion of some, pretending to be more seriously hurt than subsequent hospital tests indicated. Several police and legal officials believed Wolsieffer was the murderer, but interrogation proved fruitless. They then turned to his more vulnerable brother Neil, the first person to enter the house after the slaying and the one who summoned the police, pressing him with questions almost to the point of harassment; in October Neil died in an auto accident later ruled de termined to have been a suicide. Pienciak ( Deadly Masquerade ) masterfully reviews the case, arriving at the same conclusion reached by most of those involved (including a jury that found Wolsieffer guilty of third-degree murder): the dentist probably killed his wife, but proof was by no means conclusive. Wolsieffer is currently free on bail while appealing his conviction. Photos not seen by PW. (Oct.)