It’s an ordinary Thursday night in Shavertown, Pennsylvania — until a family member walks through an unlocked door and finds the lights on… a ceiling fan still spinning… and a trail of blood cutting through the house like a roadmap of violence.
At the end of that trail is 56-year-old Jonathan Balester, stabbed repeatedly in the back inside his own home. No forced entry. No robbery. Just brutal, personal violence in a quiet neighborhood where residents said “nothing ever happens.”
Jonathan wasn’t just a name in a case file. He was a longtime local businessman, deeply rooted in the community — a man who opened his doors to people trying to get their lives back on track, taught Bible studies at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility, and even cared for stray cats.
For 14 years, investigators stayed tight-lipped and the case went cold. The family believed they knew who did it. Police said they had a suspect. Still — no arrest.
Then everything changed.
In a major break, Pennsylvania State Police arrested 69-year-old Frederick Balester and charged him with criminal homicide. Authorities allege the motive was “murder for profit,” tied to the attempted sale of the family business — and that evidence reexamined years later finally helped crack the case.
Content warning: graphic violence and murder.
WHAT YOU’LL HEAR IN THIS EPISODE
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Host: Jennifer Novotney
Show: CRIMERY
CRIMERY
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Legal: Everyone mentioned is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Content may include descriptions of violence. Listener discretion advised.
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