A Pennsylvania woman who told her family she was going to a New Year’s Eve party was brutally raped, stabbed, and set on fire by two men she considered friends.
The victim, 23-year-old Ashley Kline, who had suffered brain damage as a child from lead poisoning and had the mental age of around 15, was reported missing on December 30, 2013. Described by relatives as “happy and loving but overly trusting,” Ashley had agreed to go to the movies with family friend Ryan Matthew Schannauer, believing it was an innocent outing.
Instead, Schannauer, 20, and his accomplice Adam Morning Star Lynch, 21, took her to a remote area at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area, where she was subjected to a horrifying ordeal. Prosecutors said Ashley was raped in the car, then dragged out, beaten, stabbed repeatedly, and doused with gasoline while still alive before being set on fire. A post-mortem confirmed she had soot in her lungs, indicating she was breathing when first set ablaze.
The case came to light in early January 2014 when a jogger discovered a pink Ugg boot and a small handbag belonging to Ashley in a remote woodland area. Investigation revealed that the men had plotted the murder for months. CCTV footage showed Lynch filling a jerry can with petrol near the crime scene, and evidence recovered from his car included a broken necklace belonging to Ashley and the print of one of her boots.
Despite initially blaming each other, both men eventually pleaded guilty to charges including homicide, arson, abuse of a corpse, kidnapping, and conspiracy after negotiating a plea deal that spared them the death penalty. Prosecutors described the crime as “one of the most horrific in our history.”
District Attorney Craig W. Stedman and Assistant District Attorney Christopher Lechner highlighted that Ashley’s trust in Schannauer ultimately led to her death. Eleven years on, both men remain behind bars with no prospect of parole.
