Alleged killer had bullets at DUI stop

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EBENSBURG - Police found a "confused" Nicholas Horner sitting in his vehicle with a box of .22 caliber shells on his lap when they approached him for driving under the influence in February in the Lilly area, an affidavit shows.

Two months before the Altoona man was charged in a Blair County double homicide, Cresson Township police said they arrested the 28-year-old man in Lilly, apparently lost and intoxicated on a drive from Johnstown to Altoona.

Horner waived the charges from the traffic stop - driving under the influence, possession of drug paraphernalia and careless driving - to Cambria County Court Wednesday before being returned to Blair County Prison where he is being held on unrelated homicide charges.

Wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and with his court-appointed public defender at his side, Horner told Magisterial District Judge Galen Decort he didn't know if he would "ever make bond."

Moments earlier, the Iraq war veteran quietly asked county constables to help him remember his court paperwork when they returned to the jail, telling them he has trouble recalling things and was on Social Security for what he deems as post-traumatic stress-related issues.

His court-appointed defense attorney, Kenneth Sottile, said little about the charges other than that they will be dealt with on the Common Pleas level and that the first-offense DUI "is the least of his problems."

In Blair County, Horner is accused of walking into the Subway restaurant on 58th Street, fatally shooting Hollidaysburg Area Senior High School student Scott Garlick, 19, at the doorway and shooting another employee before demanding cash and running off.

Police also allege Horner killed Raymond E. Williams, 64, of Altoona during an attempted getaway before police caught up with him.

"It's all crazy," said Horner in a softspoken tone when asked for comment. "I don't know what to say."

On Feb. 7, Cambria investigators say a caller phoned in a reckless driving complaint, and they found Horner parked alongside Corrigan Street in Lilly with his Jeep's engine running.

Horner told Cresson Township police he was on his way from Johnstown and got lost looking for his Altoona apartment.

After police spotted the gun shells, Horner told them that he had a handgun inside the vehicle's center console, which they found, township police officer David Turek wrote in an affidavit. He had a permit to carry the weapon. During a vehicle search, police also found two drug pipes, cigarette rolling papers and lighters, he said.

A blood test showed Horner registered a 0.12 percent blood-alcohol content, above the state legal limit. Horner also had marijuana and Clonazepam, a prescribed drug used to treat panic disorders and seizures, in his system, Turek wrote.

Decort set Horner's bond at $15,000 unsecured but noted it was "basically moot" because Horner is being held in Blair County Prison on homicide counts without bail.

A preliminary hearing scheduled for Wednesday in Blair County for the shooting death of Garlick and the armed robbery was postponed.

The case will be heard before Magisterial District Judge Steven D. Jackson at a date and time to be determined.

Horner is charged with two counts of criminal homicide and other charges, including robbery.

Mirror Staff Writer David Hurst is at 946-7457.