An Aquashicola man has been charged in the death of a woman following a shooting Monday afternoon at 3955 Forest Inn Road in Lower Towamensing Township.

According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by Trooper Nicolas De La Iglesia of the Pennsylvania State Police, Troop N, Lehighton barracks in the case against Keith Else:

At 12:37 p.m., Else, 38, called the Carbon County Communications Center and said his wife, Laura Else, 31, had suffered a gunshot wound.

State police were dispatched and secured the scene, and Laura Else was transported to St. Luke’s Fountain Hill via helicopter for medical treatment, where she later died.

Cpl. Brian Silliman and De La Iglesia responded to the scene and met with Keith Else in the backyard of the residence and agreed to be transported to PSP Lehighton for a recorded interview.

De La Iglesia presented Keith Else with his Miranda warnings, and he agreed to speak about the incident and initially provided a statement of the events which had resulted in the shooting of Laura Else.

Else said that he and Laura had been married for between seven to eight years and have two children, and that he is raising another child from a prior relationship and that the family is undergoing a stressful time due to financial difficulties and the need to find a new place to live.

Else said that these stresses have resulted in an increased amount of arguments between he and Laura. He said that there was verbal and physical domestic dispute between himself and Laura, and that they both struck each other during this argument.

Else said that he retrieved a black handgun from a plastic ammunition storage container in a desk next to the couch in the living room.

He told police upon retrieving the handgun, he observed that the magazine was not fully inserted, so he removed the magazine and threw it toward a laundry basket in the living room, and that he racked the slide to the rear causing a cartridge to eject into his hand, and that he tried to hand the firearm to Laura, but the gun accidentally discharged, striking her.

He later told police

Keith said that he dropped the gun after the gunshot and believed it fell into a toy box and insisted that he believed the firearm was unloaded.

After several rounds of interviews, he told police he picked up the gun and pointed it to his head and threatened to kill himself. Then he said he thought he unloaded the gun and approached his wife, putting his left hand on her shoulder and the gun in his right hand. He told police he was trying to hug her when the gun went off.

Else faces charges of criminal homicide and recklessly endangering another person.

He is currently incarcerated in the Carbon County Correctional Facility after bail was denied, and scheduled to have a preliminary hearing Oct. 14 before District Judge William Kissner of Palmerton.