Teen, mom held for trial in fatal stabbing

Evidence implicating Royce and Rachel Moser in the crime was presented Tuesday at their preliminary hearings.

Jerad and Leane Heintz walked hand in hand into a Washington County courtroom Tuesday and took seats in the front row, where they listened as prosecutors spent nearly two hours retracing the final hours of their 18-year-old daughter’s life and what they allege her boyfriend and his mother did after she was fatally stabbed.

Karoline Heintz
Photo by Cal U Athletics

Six witnesses and more than 38 pieces of evidence, including surveillance footage, cellphone data and physical evidence, were used to reconstruct Karoline Heintz’s final night and trace the movements of Royce Joel Moser and his mother, Rachel E. Moser, in the hours after her death.

By the end of separate preliminary hearings, Magisterial District Judge Charles A. Tenny Jr. ordered both Mosers to stand trial on all charges against them.

Royce Moser, 18, of North Strabane Township, is charged with criminal homicide, tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse and obstruction in Heintz’s Aug. 20 death.

Rachel Moser, 56, of Beallsville, is charged with hindering apprehension or prosecution, tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse and obstruction for allegedly helping her son after the killing.

Rachel Moser is escorted by Washington County sheriff’s deputies from the Washington County Courthouse following her preliminary hearing Tuesday. Jeff Helsel / Mon Valley Independent

Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh, who personally presented the Commonwealth’s case, also asked Tenny to add a charge of criminal use of a communication facility against Rachel Moser. Tenny granted the request and held the additional charge for court.

Both defendants remain in Washington County Prison without bail as their cases move to Washington County Court of Common Pleas. No trial date has been set.

Leane Heintz sobbed as Royce Moser entered the courtroom. He showed little outward emotion during the hearing.

Walsh said afterward that investigators developed extensive evidence in addition to statements allegedly made by the defendants.

“The police did a great investigation and developed a lot of evidence that, I mean, is beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was a horrific homicide,” Walsh said.

Heintz, of McMurray, went to Royce Moser’s North Strabane Township home around 9:45 p.m. Aug. 19.

Prosecutors alleged Tuesday that Moser coerced Heintz into coming to his home that night. Investigators said the two were sitting in Heintz’s gray Jeep Cherokee when Moser attempted to hug and kiss her. Heintz wasn’t welcoming to those advances and said something that prosecutors allege made Moser become angry.

Moser allegedly told police he could not remember exactly what Heintz said, but told her to wait while he went inside his home.

Police allege he retrieved a knife and returned to the Jeep, where he stabbed Heintz as she sat in the driver’s seat.

Testimony Tuesday revealed Heintz was stabbed twice, once in the lower hip and once in the heart.

After being stabbed, Heintz fell from the vehicle and Moser dragged her to the back of the Jeep and placed her inside the rear hatch, according to investigators.

During an interview with police, Moser allegedly said a “demon” had taken over and told him to stab Heintz.

Walsh said Tuesday that he does not believe the evidence points to a spur-of-the-moment act.

“I believe this is premeditated,” he said.

After the stabbing, police allege Royce Moser repeatedly called his mother.

Phone extraction evidence presented Tuesday showed Royce first called Rachel Moser at 10:22 p.m., but she did not answer. A second call also went unanswered before she picked up at 10:25 p.m., and the two spoke for about 10 minutes.

Additional calls were made at 10:37 p.m. and 11:22 p.m.

Although the calls had been removed from the phone’s call history, investigators recovered them through a forensic extraction of the device, testimony revealed.

Royce then drove Heintz’s Jeep, with her body in the rear hatch, to Rachel Moser’s home in Beallsville. He arrived around 10:51 p.m. and remained there for about half an hour, according to evidence presented Tuesday.

According to the criminal complaint, Rachel Moser told investigators her son admitted to her that he had stabbed Heintz with a knife from his home.

Police allege Rachel directed her son to pull the Jeep into her garage, provided gloves and brought out cleaning supplies as efforts were made to clean the vehicle.

Investigators also allege Rachel directed her son to bathe and change his clothes and later washed the clothing he had been wearing.

Police said she took the knife believed to have been used in the stabbing, placed it in a garbage bag and put it outside with the trash.

Tuesday’s testimony added surveillance, electronic and physical evidence to those allegations.

After the alleged cleanup in Beallsville, prosecutors say the mother and son left in separate vehicles.

Rachel Moser drove a Volkswagen Jetta, leading the way as Royce followed in Heintz’s Jeep, according to testimony.

Surveillance footage presented in court showed both wearing gloves as they made their way to California, where Heintz’s Jeep was left near California Area Public Library with her body still inside the rear hatch.

They remained at the library for less than two minutes before Royce got into the Jetta with his mother and the two drove away.

Detective Matthew Collins of the Washington County District Attorney’s Office testified about cellphone data, surveillance footage and license-plate reader information investigators used to retrace their movements.

Prosecutors displayed surveillance footage and cellphone mapping in court that they said tracked Royce and Rachel Moser as they traveled through Washington County, including to the area near California Area Public Library where Heintz’s Jeep was left.

The evidence showed the Mosers traveled from California to Royce’s North Strabane Township residence and then back to Beallsville.

Their movements would later take them toward California again around 1:44 a.m., after police and emergency personnel had already converged on the area where Heintz was found.

Collins also testified about a series of Google searches recovered from Royce Moser’s cellphone in the hours after investigators believe Heintz was killed.

The searches began around 11:12 p.m. Aug. 19, according to Collins.

Among the questions entered were “What removes fingerprints from objects?” and “How long do Ring Cameras store video?”

Other searches asked, “What does God say about murder?” and “What if a demon controlled you and murdered someone?”

Another asked whether an 18-year-old could receive the death penalty.

The searches continued into the early morning hours of Aug. 20, with the last occurring around 1:45 a.m., according to testimony.

While the Mosers were allegedly traveling through Washington County, Heintz’s family was trying to find her.

Her cellphone had either lost signal or died in the Scenery Hill area, and her parents became concerned when she did not answer their calls or text messages, according to testimony from Trooper Jessica Bishop of Pennsylvania State Police.

An Apple AirTag placed in the Jeep as an added security measure by her family showed the vehicle near California Area Public Library, prompting the family to call police for a welfare check.

California Borough police Officer Christopher Guffey testified about that initial call and the police response.

Prosecutors played footage from Guffey’s body-worn camera showing him approaching Heintz’s Jeep and initially checking the surrounding area.

Leane Heintz looked away as the footage played in court.

When Guffey returned to the Jeep and looked through a window into the rear hatch, he could be heard screaming before calling for backup.

He had found Heintz inside. The footage showed the initial police response before additional officers and emergency medical personnel arrived.

Dan Harvey, an advanced EMT with Brownsville Ambulance, testified that Heintz had no pulse or active heartbeat when EMS arrived.

Walsh credited Jerad Heintz with helping authorities find his daughter as quickly as they did.

“He was the reason why she was found and found that quickly, absolutely,” Walsh said.

He said that allowed law enforcement to begin investigating quickly and work to determine who they believed was responsible.

Meanwhile, surveillance evidence continued to trace the movements of Royce and Rachel Moser.

After traveling to Royce’s North Strabane Township residence and returning to Beallsville, evidence showed the mother and son later headed toward California again.

Collins testified that they approached the area where Heintz’s Jeep had been found around 1:44 a.m., but did not stop.

By then, police and emergency vehicles were at the scene.

Asked after the hearing why the Mosers may have headed back toward California, Walsh declined to speculate.

“You saw what the evidence was,” Walsh said. “They were wearing gloves. You guys can draw those conclusions on your own.”

The Mosers returned to Rachel Moser’s Beallsville residence, where they remained until morning, according to testimony.

Walsh said investigators have additional evidence that was not presented during Tuesday’s preliminary hearings and that the investigation remains active.

Electronic evidence, in particular, is still being processed.

“There’s a lot of electronics and things of that nature still being downloaded,” Walsh said.

Tuesday’s hearing drew representatives from about 10 media outlets and a heavy law-enforcement presence, with as many as 13 Washington County sheriff’s deputies inside the courtroom at times.

Assistant Public Defender M. Jacob “Jake” Mihalov represented Royce Moser, while Assistant Public Defender Patrick Fitch represented Rachel Moser.

Neither defense attorney called witnesses.

People in the gallery held tissues and wiped away tears during portions of the testimony.

Jerad and Leane Heintz remained in the front row as the Commonwealth presented evidence detailing their daughter’s death and what investigators allege happened afterward.

Walsh acknowledged after court the difficulty of presenting the case with Heintz’s family nearby.

“It’s horrible. We’re human beings. I can’t imagine what they are going through,” Walsh said.

Asked about the family, Walsh said they are dealing with an immense loss.

“They’re heartbroken, obviously, and they’re grieving,” he said. “Like I said, our hearts go out to them.”

Heintz was a 2026 Peters Township High School graduate who was preparing to begin her freshman year at PennWest California, where she planned to study biology and play for the university’s women’s soccer team.

She hoped to become a physician and had been pre-accepted to the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine following completion of her undergraduate degree.

A trial date has not been set.