A freshman college soccer player was allegedly stabbed to death Wednesday night by her 18-year-old boyfriend, who told investigators that a “demon” had taken over his body and told him to stab her, before his mother allegedly helped him clean the vehicle and abandon it with her body inside.
Karoline Heintz, 18, had been with family on the evening of Aug. 19 before stopping at the North Strabane Township home of boyfriend Royce Moser’s father. The couple sat in her Jeep Cherokee in the driveway and discussed the future of their relationship.
Moser allegedly became angry over something Heintz said, although he later told investigators he could not remember what it was. According to the criminal complaint, Moser told Heintz, “Wait, I have something for you,” went inside the house and returned with a large kitchen knife, which he allegedly used to stab her in the chest.
Moser told investigators that a “demon” had taken over and told him to stab Heintz, according to the complaint. Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh described the killing as “the result of a domestic situation.”
Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Rocco Gagliardi described the pair as “a younger couple talking about how relationships can continue maybe in a college setting,” adding that “somewhere that conversation probably goes a little bit south.”
After Heintz fell from the vehicle, Moser allegedly placed her body in the Jeep’s rear hatch and drove approximately 16 miles to the Beallsville home of his mother, Rachel Moser.
Once there, Rachel allegedly helped her son clean the Jeep with disinfectant spray. She also allegedly placed the kitchen knife in a garbage bag, washed her son’s clothes and provided him with latex gloves.
Rachel then instructed her son to follow her toward PennWest California, according to authorities. Royce allegedly drove Heintz’s Jeep while his mother followed in her own vehicle. Surveillance footage reportedly showed both of them wearing gloves.
The pair allegedly left the Jeep, with Heintz’s body still inside, near the California Public Library on Wood Street in California Borough. Rachel then drove her son back to her Beallsville home, where she allegedly told him to bathe, shower, and change his clothes.
Rachel also told investigators that her son had mentioned “demons” instructing him to hurt Heintz.
Meanwhile, Heintz’s father had been monitoring her location and became alarmed when she stopped responding at an agreed-upon check-in time. Family members tracked her vehicle using an Apple AirTag, helping direct police to the abandoned Jeep.
Officers received a welfare-check call shortly after midnight Thursday and located the Cherokee near the library at approximately 12:24 a.m. Police observed blood on the vehicle’s exterior and interior before finding Heintz’s body in the rear hatch.
Royce and Rachel were taken into custody Thursday.
“Sometimes you get these homicides and they go unfounded for years,” Gagliardi said. “Solving a homicide like that in 12 hours is kind of unheard of.”
Royce was later led from the police station in a white jail jumpsuit and handcuffs without answering reporters’ questions. Rachel covered her face as she was taken into custody.
“I’m sorry,” she told reporters.
Asked why she was sorry, Rachel replied, “That my son took a life.”
Royce faces charges of criminal homicide, tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse, conspiracy to commit tampering with evidence, conspiracy to commit abuse of a corpse and obstruction of justice.
Rachel faces charges of hindering the apprehension of a fugitive, tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse, conspiracy to commit tampering with evidence, conspiracy to commit abuse of a corpse and obstruction of justice.
Heintz was a freshman defender on the PennWest California Division II women’s soccer roster. The recent Peters Township High School graduate had signed a National Letter of Intent before arriving on campus. The Vulcans’ season opener was scheduled for Aug. 29.
