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<p>BUTLER TWP. &#8212; As William Morse IV was in a bathtub waiting to die from self-inflicted slash wounds to his neck and arms, he allegedly made a confession to his mother about his missing father, William Morse III.</p><p>Robin Morse testified against her son at his preliminary hearing Wednesday on charges he killed his father outside the family&#8217;s home at 170 Hollow Road, Sugarloaf Township, on June 11, 2018.</p><p>Although investigators have not recovered the elder Morse&#8217;s body, his disappearance is considered a &#8220;dead missing person,&#8221; testified Luzerne County Detective Shawn Williams.</p><p>Morse IV attempted to take his own life Sept. 16, five days after state police searched the Hollow Road home and after Trooper Ed Urban told the younger Morse he was the target of the investigation.</p><p>Robin Morse testified she awoke on Sept. 16 and stepped in what she believed was water on a carpet inside their home. She initially believed a dog had an accident but soon realized there was blood going up stairs to a bathroom.</p><p>Robin Morse said she found her son sitting in a bathtub covered in blood. She said her son pleaded with her not to call 911.</p><p>&#8220;I said to him, &#8216;I wish your father would come home and see what he&#8217;s doing to this family,&#8217;&#8221; Robin Morse testified. &#8220;He said, &#8216;He&#8217;s not coming home. I killed him.&#8217;&#8221;</p><p>The alleged confession was one of two investigators say Morse IV admitted to killing his father.</p><p>A hunter discovered a weathered notebook and other items, including an empty milk container, in woods about 800 feet from the Morse home on Nov. 11.</p><p>Urban testified the notebook contained a note allegedly written by Morse IV admitting to the killing. The trooper also noted the milk container had an expiration date of Sept. 20.</p><p>&#8220;I, William Morse IV, murdered my father, period. My mother knew nothing. I bludgeoned him on the concrete, then burned his body. Robin knew nothing,&#8221; Urban testified while reading the notebook.</p><p>Before Morse IV attempted to take his own life, he left his mother a note, a $200 gift card and cash that was found inside the home Sept. 16.</p><p>Urban testified investigators discovered several fragments in a burn barrel when the property was searched Sept. 11. A forensic anthropologist from Bloomsburg University indicated the fragments are bone and suggested the fragments be sent to the University of Akron in Ohio to be analyzed under specialized microscope.</p><p>Urban said representatives at Akron were not able to identify if the fragments are human or animal because they were destroyed by heat.</p><p>Investigators suspect Morse IV burned his father&#8217;s body on the Hollow Road property as three burn areas were found.</p><p>Robin Morse testified she met Morse III in 1986 and they married in 1990. They divorced in 1997, but reconciled in 2001 or 2002. Although they never re-married, she described their relationship as &#8220;boyfriend and girlfriend.&#8221;</p><p>She said Morse III moved out of the house sometime in April 2018 and was staying in different hotels, often patronizing the Inn at Jim Thorpe in Jim Thorpe on the weekends.</p><p>Jillian Berger, who works at Molly Maguires restaurant in Jim Thorpe, and Nicole Lang, who works at the Inn, testified Morse III on June 9 and June 10, respectively, talked about having a meeting with his son on June 11, 2018.</p><p>While in Jim Thorpe on June 11, 2018, Morse III was with friends, including Mary Ann Bonacchi, who took a picture of Morse III while attending a bridge dedication. The picture was widely used in the search for Morse III.</p><p>Robin Morse reported Morse III missing on June 17, 2018, and Morse IV reported his father missing June 20, 2018, testified Sugarloaf Township Police Chief Joshua Winters.</p><p>Investigators allege almost immediately after Morse IV reported his father missing, he began siphoning his father&#8217;s finances into his own accounts, including opening a money market fund and canceling service to his father&#8217;s cellphone.</p><p>Urban said state police took over the investigation in October 2018 and soon learned through a search warrant that Morse IV had searched on the internet about common-law marriages, common-law inheritances, murder and the use of lye to decompose bodies. Urban also said Morse IV searched for &#8220;no body, no crime,&#8221; and &#8220;murder convictions without a body.&#8221;</p><p>Morse IV searches on the internet began in April 2018 and continued after Morse III disappeared. One internet search Morse IV allegedly researched on Aug. 17, 2018, Urban said, was &#8220;life insurance on a missing person.&#8221;</p><p>Urban said Morse IV was able to close out Morse III&#8217;s bank accounts and a credit card when he became power-of-attorney on Aug. 22, 2018, over his father&#8217;s financial affairs.</p><p>After nearly four hours of testimony, O&#8217;Donnell forwarded charges of criminal homicide, receiving stolen property, tampering with evidence, obstruction of justice, abuse of corpse, acquiring proceeds from an illegal act and two counts of theft against Morse IV to county court.</p><p>Morse IV remains jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility, Wilkes-Barre, without bail.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">A picture taken of William Morse III at a bridge dedication in Jim Thorpe on June 11, 2018. Hours later, Morse III was allegedly killed by his son in Sugarloaf Township. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/web1_William-Morse-III-06112018-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>A picture taken of William Morse III at a bridge dedication in Jim Thorpe on June 11, 2018. Hours later, Morse III was allegedly killed by his son in Sugarloaf Township. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/web1_Bill-Morse-12112019-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">William Morse IV is escorted from District Judge Daniel O&#8217;Donnell&#8217;s courtroom after a preliminary hearing on Wednesday in Butler Township. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/web1_Bill-Morse-12112019-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>William Morse IV is escorted from District Judge Daniel O&#8217;Donnell&#8217;s courtroom after a preliminary hearing on Wednesday in Butler Township. </caption1><photoCredit1>Ed Lewis | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>At hearing, accused killer&#8217;s mother recounts son&#8217;s confession to father&#8217;s death</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Ed Lewis</p><p>elewis@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>