A Carbon County man who previously pleaded guilty to third-degree murder of his wife, was sentenced Tuesday in Carbon County court to serve 18 to 40 years in a state correctional institution.

Judge Joseph J. Matika imposed the sentence, stating that Keith Robert Else, 39, of Aquashicola, took away from the victim’s three children the chance for Laura Else, “to express her love for her children, you took that away from her.”

Matika said the victim lived an abusive life with the defendant, a controlling life.

He said, “The monster became abusive,” referring to the defendant.

Matika said what made the event ever more tragic was that at least one of the children witnessed their father shooting their mother to death.

Matika then read a letter from Laura Else’s 8-year-old daughter, who witnessed the shooting. She described in detail what occurred. That the parents were arguing and that her father got a gun, walked toward her mother to apparently hug her and then shot her in the chest.

In her letter, the child stated, “In my opinion he should be in jail for life.”

Matika said no sentence he imposes will bring Laura Else back, nor will it heal the wounds inflicted on her children and her parents. Her parents were in the courtroom but chose not to speak. He said he hoped his sentence would bring some closure for the family and the children.

Chief Public Defender Paul J. Levy, who represents Else, told the court his client has suffered with mental health issues for a long time and is currently on medication. He said what occurred is something Else will have to live with the rest of his life.

Levy said Else’s children want nothing to do with him and that his client did want to apologize to the children and family many times but was told by his legal counsel to wait until the day of the sentencing.

Levy also asked for a sentence in the mitigated range of state sentencing guidelines, again noting Else’s mental health issues.

Else said he apologizes for what he did. “I deeply miss her. I never wanted to harm her. I didn’t know the gun was loaded.”

District Attorney Michael S. Greek, who prosecuted the case, said that the commonwealth stands by the plea and the presentence investigation report prepared by the adult probation office.

Greek took issue with Else’s claim that he didn’t know the gun was loaded.

He also took issue with the request for a mitigated range sentence. He said, “There is nothing presented for a mitigated range sentence.” He added, “Any sentence imposed should be consistent with the presentence report, that be long enough that the children are over 18,” when it ends.

Matika also said Else will serve one year of probation after his prison term is done, pay restitution to the victims relief fund of $5,354.29, get both drug and alcohol and mental health evaluations, have no contact with the children, and pay court costs of over $1,000.

Else, who has been in prison since the day of the shooting, was given credit for 511 days already served.

Case history

The shooting occurred on Oct. 5, 2020, 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 Lehighton barracks:

At 12:37 p.m., Else 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 University Hospital Bethlehem Campus 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 he agreed to be transported to PSP Lehighton for a recorded interview.

Else told police he and Laura had been married for between seven to eight years and have two children.

He said 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 had resulted in an increased number of arguments between him and Laura. He said that there were verbal and physical domestic dispute between him 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.

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.