'A Textbook Pathological Liar'

David C. Eshbach said he was "horrified but not surprised" to learn Mark Geisenheyner was a cold-blooded killer. 

Police say Geisenheyner, 51, entered a house at 50 Renninger Road in Gilbertsville, Douglass Township around 11:30 p.m. on July 2, shot four adults and child.

Eshbach -- former Springettsbury Township, York County, Police Chief -- was lead investigator in a rash of some 60 burglaries committed by Geisenheyner and his accomplice in the 1990s.

"They were hitting one house after another," Eshbach said of the duo that stole many guns and other items. "When you're doing that, you're taking a hell of a risk."

Geisenheyner was reckless, didn't consider consequences and was the type of guy who would want to "go down in a blaze of glory," said Eshbach, a York County resident. 

"I remembered him right away," Eshbach said of seeing news reports with Geisenheyner's photo after the recent murders.

"He was just a textbook pathological liar," Eshbach said. "Looking back on it, you could see the capacity was in him to do something like that." 

Geisenheyner was a former Pottstown resident as was Eshbach's father.

"My dad and his parents lived there," Eshbach said.

Background:

On July 3, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman and Douglass Township Police Chief Barry L. Templin Jr. identified the victims in the shooting as Paul Shay and his wife Monica, the nephew Joseph Shay, Kathryn Erdmann and her son, Gregory.

Joseph Shay, 43, of Yarmouth, MA, and New York, NY, and Gregory, 2, were shot in the head and killed. Monica Shay, 58, died the following Thursday, said Paul Hoffman, Deputy Coroner for Lehigh Valley County. 

Erdmann, 37, of Fall River, MA, and Paul Shay, 64, of New York, NY, are expected to survive gunshot wounds to the head.

On July 4, Montgomery County First Assistant District Attorney Kevin Steele confirmed that the Delaware County medical examiner declared Geisenheyner dead.

A background search on Geisenheyner shows he lived on Hanover Street in Pottstown at some point, as well as several other Pa. spots including Downington, Wallingford and Philadelphia.

Geisenheyner reportedly told others he planned revenge against Paul Shay over an insurance scheme, but Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said there's no evidence to support the story.

"I don't know if it's true or not, which is why we're investigating. We do not have evidence that any of this is true, beyond that it's what he told to many different people," said Ferman. "We're not making any statements that these things, in fact, ever happened."

Recently, testing was conducted to learn whether Geisenheyner, 51 -- suspected killer of two adults and a child -- had a brain tumor, The Associated Press reported.

The pituitary gland of Geisenheyner -- an ex-convict -- was removed during an autopsy and sent for tests, said Trish Cofiell, a spokeswoman for the Delaware County medical examiner.

According to the AP, Coroner Fredric Hellman was told by an investigator and a member of Geisenheyner's family that he had a tumor, Cofiell said. Hellman did not confirm that and said test results may not be available for weeks. The coroner also sent for Geisenheyner's medical records, Cofiell said.

A SWAT team on July 4 shot and killed Geisenheyner -- a suspect in the shootings of five people that left a child, man and woman dead in Montgomery County -- after a six-hour standoff with police in Trainer, Delaware County earlier this month