A former Pennsylvania state trooper with a history of stalking has been charged with the murder of a man who was dating a woman he had dated for about a month last fall.
William Hunter Snyder, 27, was a state trooper for about 18 months before he was fired for stalking and harassment of a different woman in 2023. Now he’s charged with shooting John Rabbitz Jr. in the chest at his home last week, WVIA reported.
Rabbitz did not recognize the man who came to his door on January 23 and shot him, but he told police that Snyder wanted “to hurt him … over a girl” before he died on the way to a hospital.
Investigators tracked Snyder’s vehicle traveling in the direction of Rabbitz’s home on the day of the shooting and then traveling away from the area afterward. His social media activity stopped for about two hours — long enough for him to travel from the home he shared with his father to Rabbitz’s home and then to the home of a friend.
Snyder broke up with the woman last October, and sometime later she began dating Rabbitz. But that didn’t stop Snyder from harassing her. An affidavit for his arrest detailed texts and other messages he sent her in the days leading up to Rabbitz’s murder.
“I know you miss me, and I know you still love me,” Snyder texted. “You miss me. Your connection is strong(er) than anything I’ve ever felt, and I know you feel the same way. Selfishly and unselfishly, I am the best thing for you and I would do everything to prove that. We never had a single issue. You are my one person. I am crazy I know. But you are my soulmate. We honestly belong together.”
“Hunter, I can’t,” the woman replied.
“Why can’t you?” Snyder asked. “You can do anything! You know it in your heart Courtney. You know I’m your person. I’m your human. We are meant for so much more. I know it and you know it. You said you’ve been questioning why you ran away … because you know it was a mistake.”
“I really can’t deal with this,” she replied.
“Nothing is ever going to stop me from pursuing you,” another message said, according to The Citizen’s Voice. “How am I supposed to stay wonderful when every day without you drags me deeper into darkness?”
The woman said she repeatedly told Snyder to leave her alone and provided police with the texts and photos Snyder sent her, and she’d told Rabbitz about the harassment, which had prompted her to install a surveillance system on her home. The system captured Snyder dropping off a gift — a coffee press — at the woman’s home a week before the shooting, the Standard Speaker reported.
He’d also delivered an unannounced gift to the woman he dated in 2023, sending her dozens of messages via phone, text, and even fictitious social media accounts. He was ultimately charged with four counts of harassment and sentenced to 360 days of probation and more than a $1,000 in fines. It also cost him his job as a Pennsylvania state trooper.
Snyder is charged with criminal homicide and was ordered held without bond. He is due in court on March 7, WVIA said.
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[Featured image: William Hunter Snyder/Luzern County Correctional Facility]
