An Allentown jury will be asked this week to decide if DNA found on a discarded BB gun proves who killed an elderly widow in her North Whitehall Township home in 1989.
Michael Breisch, 66, is standing trial in the slaying of 78-year-old Rose Hnath. The Allentown man was arrested last year after DNA collected from one of the alleged murder weapons was traced to him.
Hnath was last seen alive on the morning of Jan. 21, 1989, doing yardwork outside her Second Street home. When she failed to show up for Mass, family members went to check on her and found her body.
Hnath was stabbed and beaten to death, investigators said. A search of the railroad tracks between the Lehigh River and Second Street turned up a steak knife that matched knives from Hnath’s kitchen, as well as a pellet gun. Both had blood on them.
DNA was collected from the gun, but police could not match it to anyone at the time.
The DNA has been tested repeatedly since then. A genetic genealogist used the unidentified DNA to create a family tree and identify potential relatives. One of those relatives was Breisch’s sister.
Breisch was questioned in April 2024 and gave police a sample of his DNA. After it matched the DNA from the crime scene, he was arrested.
Breisch denies the charges. During a pretrial hearing Monday before Lehigh County Judge James T. Anthony, he spoke with his attorneys but was not called to testify. He is being held in the county jail without bail.
Attorneys on both sides have agreed to limit the number of autopsy and crime scene photos shown to the jury. The autopsy uncovered a triangular wound on Hnath’s head with black paint on it, consistent with the shape and color of the BB gun.
Police have not provided a motive for the killing.
Jury selection began Monday afternoon. The trial is expected to last about a week.
