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Woman’s Death Last Week Ruled Homicide From Bullet Shot in 1982 — Murderer Could Still Be Prosecuted

Feb. 28, 2013 9:30pm Liz Klimas

The death of a Pennsylvania woman last week has been ruled a homicide after the coroner decided it resulted from complications associated with gunshot wounds. Although such a ruling might seem pretty straightforward, it gets a little more complicated when you learn the bullet was shot three decades ago.

Linda Knauss Dies of Gunshot Wound Complications Nearly 31 Years Later Death Ruled Homicide

Linda Knauss at a younger age. Knauss was shot in 1982 and died nearly 31 years later from what the coroner ruled was complications from this wound. (Photo: The Morning Call, File)

According to Leigh Valley’s the Morning Call, Linda Knauss, 65, was killed by the gunshot wound she received to the neck during a robbery while she shopped in Harrisburg. But her death didn’t come until nearly 31 years later. The April 12, 1982, attack left her partially paralyzed.

The Morning Call reported the coroner saying Knauss was admitted to the hospital for respiratory issues and died Feb. 18, 2013.

The man who shot Knauss and the boutique shop owner Isaac Mishkin, who still owns the store, was not caught at the time. The Morning Call reported records describing him as in his 20s.

“I just remember him saying, ‘I’m going to blow you away,’” the now 76-year-old Mishkin told the Morning Call.

Mishkin, who still has a bullet from the incident inside him near his liver, also noted that Knauss continued to shop at his story in the years that followed:

“She was friendly,” he said. “We were on the phone with her all the time. Up until a few weeks ago, she was still a customer of ours.

“We would mail clothes to her and she would mail back what she didn’t want.”

The Patriot News reported Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico saying if they could find the perpetrator, he could still potentially be prosecuted for his crime as there is no statute of limitations when it comes to murder. But Marisco did note that even with the coroner’s homicide ruling it could still be difficult to prove Knauss did in fact die from complications relating to her being shot.

The Morning Call reported Mishkin expressing skepticism for the gunshot wounds being related to Knauss’ cause of death.

“I have a bullet in me,” he said to the Morning Call. “Would they be able to say if I could’ve lived longer if it wasn’t there? I don’t know why they are stirring something up.”

Read more details about the 1982 attack on the boutique and its patrons in the Morning Call here.

(H/T: GeekOSystem)

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Comments (14)

Phoenix5
Posted on March 1, 2013 at 1:33pm
Agree with SPFOAM1. If the coroner can actually determine without a doubt that that was the cause, I don’t think time should be a factor. A person can change after that amount of time but you must be responsible for your actions, even the ones in the past from long ago.

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- Rowgue
  Posted on March 2, 2013 at 2:15am
  That’s the problem though. He doesn’t even contend that complications from the thirty year old bullet wound were the actual cause of death, he only asserts that it was a contributing factor. In order to charge for murder you have to show that the act in question was the primary cause of death, not just a contributing factor. Besides he doesn’t provide any sort of evidence that the bullet wound was a contributing factor other than simply saying it. The cause of death is listed as respratory failure.
  
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wilbstal
Posted on March 1, 2013 at 10:08am
Left wing coronor working for Comrade Obama, i see the actch instantly Guns??? Guns. bullets, obama

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truthhasno
Posted on March 1, 2013 at 6:12am
After 31 Years
No Way
However the trial for the attempted murder of the shop owner
That will fly
Um Now is there a suspect?

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jimrobitz
Posted on February 28, 2013 at 10:38pm
Leigh Valley…just down the road from the Lehigh Valley? lol

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glckgrl
Posted on February 28, 2013 at 10:37pm
It is possible there exists a statute of limitations for “attempt” in PA, thus the decision to consider a murder charge if the killer is ever found. I hope someone rats out the shooter so s/he sits on death row, hopefully for a long, long time, to experience the consequence of his/her action.

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cnsrvtvj
Posted on February 28, 2013 at 10:34pm
It’s almost hard to trust anything anymore form either the court system or the media.

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RaydocX
Posted on February 28, 2013 at 10:20pm
Astonishing the power of a coroner to make such claims without substantive evidence…
Now what other coroner recently made Similar statements that triggered political hysteria…

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Jetlander
Posted on February 28, 2013 at 10:07pm
Obviously the person who perpetrated this crime is guilty of attempted murder. It’s a far stretch to convict him of actual murder after the victim dies 31 years later. This is just stupid.

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- spfoam1
  Posted on February 28, 2013 at 10:30pm
  If that was your mother, and she just died after decades of suffering from that bullet, and they caught the person who pulled the trigger, would you prefer a charge of attempted murder or murder?
  
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- Jetlander
  Posted on February 28, 2013 at 11:04pm
  Emotion does not change the facts SPFOAM1.
  
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- SgtB
  Posted on February 28, 2013 at 11:10pm
  Really Foami? Are you going to go that far? What happened more than 3 decades ago is long dead history. This woman died from complications to her health that she got while living in a cruel world. Nothing more. If my mother lives to see 65 I will be quiet a happy camper. She will have lived to see the first decade of my childrens’ lives and her sons and daughter start their own families and prosper. Everyone should be so lucky to see that for themselves. Unfortunately, not everyone does and not everyone appreciates those things. The family of this woman should be glad that they got to be with their mother no matter her condition and realize that there is not a snowball’s chance in hell of convicting a man of murder for the act of attempted murder more than 30 years ago. It just isn’t going to happen and they need to accept that and move on with their lives. There are a great many people who have suffered far more than them with less hope of ever seeing justice.
  
  I submit for the record, the case of Sergeant Guerena, Jose / USMC. Murdered in his own home by 50 bullets from an Arizona “SWAT” team while his wife and child hid in a closet after waking up daddy because men were coming over the fence with guns. To add insult to injury, the “police” didn’t even allow EMS to enter the home for over an hour while the grieving wife tried to comfort her dying husband, Marine, and father of her child. Now if you would bring up murder charges on the state of Arizona, I’d be ha
  
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- marine249
  Posted on February 28, 2013 at 11:13pm
  @SPFOAM1
  Civil court.
  More money.
  
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- spfoam1
  Posted on February 28, 2013 at 11:27pm
  Unless you are a coroner you have nothing to base your opinion on. If someone is exposed to asbestos, and dies from asbestos related cancer 25 years later, does the passage of time change the fact that the asbestos was the cause?
  
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