The Associated Press

NORRISTOWN, Pa.—A man accused of fatally shooting his aunt in the Philadelphia area has an unusual defense, insisting to a jury that the woman is still alive.

The suspect, 35-year-old Ethiopian immigrant Yeshtila Ameshe, lives in Adelphi, Md. He’s charged with first- and third-degree murder and other counts in the death of his 60-year-old aunt, Haregewene Bitew.

Authorities say she died June 27, 2000, after being shot in the head, neck and chest when the two were visiting relatives in Towamencin Township, 20 miles north of Philadelphia.

But Ameshe testified Thursday he didn’t know what he was doing in Montgomery County Court. He said through an interpreter that the purported victim is “definitely alive. She’s not dead.”

Defense attorney Scott Krieger is arguing insanity, while prosecutors imply Ameshe is faking insanity. Psychiatric testimony is expected as the trial continues.
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Ethiopian suspect in aunt murder case felt ‘betrayed’
The Times Herald
By Carl Hessler Jr.

An Ethiopian immigrant felt “betrayed” by older relatives who tried to put an end to his romantic pursuit of a young woman several months before he fatally shot his aunt inside a Towamencin apartment, according to testimony.

“He felt like the family was against him. He felt betrayed by the family,” Tsedaye Bezabeh, a second cousin to accused killer Yeshtila Awoke Ameshe, testified Wednesday in Montgomery County Court.

Ameshe, 35, of Adelphi, Md., is charged with first- and third-degree murder, aggravated assault and possession of an instrument of crime in connection with the 8 p.m. June 27, 2000, fatal shooting of his aunt, Haregewene Bitew, a 60-year-old licensed nurse from Silver Spring, Md., who, along with Ameshe, was visiting the Dock Village apartment in Towamencin.

Bitew died after sustaining four gunshot wounds to her head, neck and chest inside the Community Drive apartment.

Through Bezabeh’s testimony, Deputy District Attorney Christopher Maloney implied Ameshe felt so betrayed by his family that he intentionally killed Bitew, one of several elder relatives in the Ethiopian community who tried to convince Ameshe to give up his pursuit of a young Maryland woman.

Bezabeh, who is Bitew’s daughter, testified relatives met with Ameshe four months before the murder to discuss problems he was having with the Maryland woman who did not want a relationship with Ameshe.

“It was an important issue we were discussing with Yeshtila,” said Bezabeh, recalling the family meeting.

Bezabeh testified Ameshe, who emigrated from Ethiopia to the U.S. in 1997, believed that

under traditional Ethiopian customs, his family should intervene on his behalf to keep the woman in his life.

In more rural areas of Ethiopia, a man’s wishes are respected and followed under traditional Ethiopian customs and women are expected to follow a man’s wishes, Bezabeh told the jury that is weighing Ameshe’s fate.

“I told him, ‘In this country it’s not the way it is done,'” Bezabeh testified, explaining she told Ameshe that in America he had to respect the wishes of the young woman who did not want a relationship with him. “The man’s wishes are respected in our society. That’s why he felt we were betraying him.”

About a month before the fatal shooting, Ameshe called Bezabeh and asked her to help him make “peace” with the family and continued to express his desire that the relationship with the young woman move forward, testimony revealed.

Bezabeh recalled she told Ameshe there was peace with the family.

“He said, ‘You betrayed me. You have not helped me get the girl back,'” Bezabeh recalled.

Maloney alleged Ameshe, with “malicious and evil intentions,” brought his anger to the Towamencin apartment and opened fire on his aunt with a 9mm Smith & Wesson handgun during a family gathering.

Maloney alleged Ameshe acted with a specific intent to kill, a legal requirement for a first-degree murder conviction, which is punishable of life imprisonment.

However, defense lawyer Scott H. Krieger is waging an insanity defense on behalf of Ameshe. With an insanity defense Ameshe claimed he could not have formed the intent to kill his aunt.

During his cross-examination of Bezabeh, Krieger implied that in Ameshe’s mind his relationship with the young woman was not over.

Under state law, a person is legally insane at the time of a crime if he was suffering a defect of reason or from disease of the mind that prevented him from knowing what is right or wrong or understanding the consequences of his actions.

A person found not guilty by reason of insanity would be committed to a mental institution where he would receive treatment.

Once he is deemed “cured” he would be released from the institution with no requirement to serve any prison time.

Ameshe is also charged with a lesser third-degree murder charge, a killing committed with malice, which is punishable of a maximum of 20 to 40 years in prison.