SELINSGROVE -- Three months after Charity Spickler was shot and killed, her father went to a spot in Penn Township near where the family had enjoyed a last picnic with Charity just days before her slaying.
And it was there, Thursday night, that Blaine Allen Spickler, 47, of Kreamer, was also killed, the victim of an apparent accidental shooting when an acquaintance's firearm unexpectedly discharged, Game Commission officials said.
Oddly, the shooting took place on the state-owned land, along Old Colony Road, near Middlecreek Antique Machinery Association grounds, where, after Charity's death, her relatives reflected on their last gathering as a family.
Charity was shot Sept. 27, in Lewisburg, and died fewer than 30 hours later.
After her death, relatives said they were thankful that they had the chance to spend time with Charity on the association grounds earlier that week.
Antique association representatives said the Spickler family often attended its events held throughout the year.
In a further twist, a short distance from the shooting site is the Snyder County Jail, where Roderick Sims -- Charity's alleged killer and father of three of her children -- is being held. He appeared in court Friday for a preliminary hearing in that case.
"There's no information I have available at this time that leads me to even suspect that there is a connection," said Snyder County District Attorney Michael Sholley, who added that he believes it is just coincidence.
The Spickler family has been through "so much pain already," said Union County District Attorney D. Peter Johnson, who spoke Friday after Sims' preliminary hearing.
"The amount of pain this family was already suffering from the loss of Charity was enormous," Johnson said. "Having now to survive this deadly accident is severe for anyone to handle. My thoughts and prayers really go out to them."
The man who investigators believe shot Blaine Spickler is an unidentified 46-year-old Freeburg resident who was attempting to unload a firearm, a .243-caliber Winchester, while inside his vehicle, according to Jerry Feaser of the state Game Commission.
The two had been talking before the gun went off, Feaser said. The shooter is believed to have been sitting in the passenger seat. Spickler was standing outside the passenger door and talking to him.
Sholley said it is his understanding that the two knew each other, but he didn't know how well, saying they could have just met each other that day.
Feaser said the incident is being investigated as hunting related. However, the two were not in the act of hunting.
"The alleged offender has a permit to use a vehicle as a blind," Feaser said, "meaning he can hunt from a vehicle because of a disability."
The vehicle was stopped on Snyder County Conservation District land, alongside Old Colony Road, just west of the Snyder County Jail and the antique association.
According to Craig Bingaman, of the Snyder County Conservation District, the land consists of 330 acres, which the district is leasing from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
"We always had it (the land) open to hunting," he said. "No vehicles are allowed, but they can walk in."
Hunting is prohibited in all land across the road, which is adjacent to the Selinsgrove Center.
An accidental discharge of a gun pointed in an unsafe direction caused the accident, Feaser said.
No charges have been filed and an arrest has not been made.
Harold J. Malehorn, wildlife conservation officer, is in charge of the investigation. It is an open investigation, and the incident is not considered to be suspicious, Feaser said.
"It is unlikely, given this scenario."
The Pennsylvania Game Commission has 136 districts across the state. Snyder County is a one-district county. Wildlife conservation officers lead investigations involving the commission, and if necessary, may file charges in injury or fatality-related instances.
n E-mail comments to tpursell@dailyitem.com.
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