DAUPHIN COUNTY, Pa. — Matthew Webster pleaded no contest Tuesday to perjury in connection with the investigation into the disappearance of Tracy Kroh, according to court documents.
Webster was arrested in the courtroom on August 8 following his testimony before a grand jury, the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release that month.
A criminal complaint alleged that Webster falsely testified that he had not spoken in advance with a woman about the content of her pending grand jury testimony. A wiretap of Webster’s phone, which began on May 3, allegedly showed that he did in fact get in contact with the woman and the two talked about how she would disavow her prior statement to police.
That statement occurred during an interview with State Police on June 4, 2018, the criminal complaint said.
The woman advised that she and Webster were drinking at her home prior when he discussed his involvement in the rape and murder of Kroh, a 17-year-old Halifax Township girl who had been missing since August 1989, the criminal complaint alleged.
The woman told police that Webster told her he and some friends came in contact with Kroh in Millersburg, where she was from, 30 years ago and he allegedly said, “It was supposed to be a rape and done, but it turned out to be a lot more than that.”
Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo tells FOX43 that Webster was sentenced to 4 1/2 to 12 months in prison but was immediately paroled due to time served.
Webster will be placed on 12 months probation, District Attorney Chardo adds. He must pay court costs and a $500 fine.
