Oechsle

HOLLIDAYSBURG — A jury was seated Monday afternoon to hear the case against a city man accused of stabbing two fellow inmates at the Blair County Prison.

Raymond Thomas Oechsle Jr., 54, was charged with a felony count of attempted criminal homicide, four felony counts of aggravated assault, two felony counts of assault by a prisoner on another, two misdemeanor counts each of recklessly endangering another person, possession of a weapon, inmate procures self with a weapon and a misdemeanor count of tampering with evidence in relation to the alleged October 2023 attack.

Defense attorney Robert Donaldson and Blair County District Attorney Pete Weeks selected a jury panel of seven men and six women, as well as four men and two women to act as alternates, for the trial scheduled to begin on May 6 and expected to last until May 8.

During the selection process, presiding President Judge Wade A. Kagarise alerted the potential jurors to the fact that Oechsle was not present in the courtroom to participate in picking his jury. He told the potential jurors to not “consider that fact” and to “draw no adverse inference” from Oechsle’s absence.

When the potential jurors were asked by Kagarise if they had any prior knowledge of the case, two individuals indicated they knew about the case from media reports and other sources.

Kagarise then told the potential jurors that the charges against Oechsle in the case they were being seated for were “completely irrelevant” to the charges that led to Oechsle’s imprisonment.

Once Kagarise finished questioning the potential jurors, Weeks was given the opportunity to ask them questions of his own. Weeks asked, when it came time to decide Oechsle’s alleged intent, if the potential jurors would be unable to consider both the direct and circumstantial evidence presented to them.

When no potential jurors raised an issue, Weeks then asked if they would be able to remain impartial to the fact that the alleged victims in the case were themselves inmates in prison for their own alleged crimes. He again received no response from the potential jurors.

Donaldson asked no questions of the potential jurors, saying he was satisfied with those posed by Kagarise and Weeks.

The attempted homicide charges were brought against Oechsle on Oct. 19, when he was allegedly captured on prison cameras approaching the first victim from behind and began to “violently stab him in the face with an object,” the police report states.

When the first victim fell to the floor, Oechsle entered an open cell and allegedly appeared to stab a second victim, the report states.

Oechsle was first taken into custody for his alleged role in the stabbing death of 38-year-old Christopher Helsel. He has remained incarcerated since April 27, 2023, with bail denied in that case. His bail in the attempted homicide case was set at $750,000.

Since his arrest, Oechsle has had five additional cases brought against him for his alleged conduct within the prison.

Public documents also show that Oechsle was convicted in federal court Feb. 3, 1994, of assault with intent to commit murder for stabbing another federal inmate 22 times with homemade shanks, according to a release from the Blair County District Attorney’s Office. He served 20 years in federal prison for the crime.