An elderly former pastor has been found not guilty in the cold case murder of 8-year-old Gretchen Harrington from 1975.
CBS News reported that on Friday, a Delaware County, Pennsylvania jury acquitted 84-year-old David Zandstra after three hours of deliberation. Authorities had accused Zandstra of murdering Harrington after reopening the cold case and uncovering evidence in July 2023 that linked him to the crime.
As previously reported by CrimeOnline, investigators charged the retired Georgia pastor with murder in connection with the death of the young girl nearly 50 years ago in Pennsylvania.
Investigators say Zandstra confessed to killing Gretchen Harrington in Marple Township on August 15, 1975, according to KYW.
At the time, Zandstra served as a family friend to the Harringtons and was the pastor of Trinity Christian Reformed Church. He reportedly assisted in the search for the girl when she disappeared and presided over her funeral when authorities found her body.
Police state that Gretchen left home that morning to walk to Bible school while her father watched her head up the road. Once she was out of her father’s view, Zandstra allegedly invited her into his car, prosecutors said.
Court documents indicate that Zandstra took her to a secluded area, where he performed sexual acts in front of her. When she refused to remove her clothes, he reportedly beat her to death and then dumped her body in Ridley Creek State Park.
“He killed this poor 8-year-old girl he knew and who trusted him, and then he acted as if he was a family friend not only during her burial and funeral but for years,” Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer stated.
Over the decades since the murder, Zandstra continued to serve as a pastor in Georgia and Texas. He had retired and was living in Marietta, Georgia, at the time of his arrest, according to WXIA.
Zandstra’s prior confession to the murder is now alleged to have been coerced by investigators, CBS News reports.
Although Zandstra has been found not guilty of Harrington’s murder, CBS News reports that he remains under investigation for possible instances of child sex abuse at other churches where he served as pastor.
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[Featured image: Gretchen Harrington/handout and David Zandstra/Cobb County Sheriff’s Office]
