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The city man found guilty of attempted homicide after stabbing two fellow inmates at the Blair County Prison in October 2023 was sentenced in mid-June to about 36 to 73 years in a state correctional facility.
Following a two-day trial in early May, a jury deliberated about 30 minutes before convicting Raymond Thomas Oechsle Jr., 54, on a felony count of attempted homicide, four felony counts of aggravated assault, two felony counts of assault by prisoner on another and two misdemeanor counts each of possession of a weapon, inmate procures a weapon and recklessly endangering another person.
Online court documents state that President Judge Wade A. Kagarise, who presided over the trial, sentenced Oechsle on June 18 to 440 to 880 months in a state correctional institution. Oechsle is now being housed at SCI Camp Hill.
The case was brought against Oechsle on Oct. 19, 2023, when he was captured on prison cameras approaching John Javit from behind and began to stab him in the face. When Javit fell to the floor, Oechsle entered an open cell and stabbed Larry Lykens.
In stipulations agreed upon during trial, Blair County District Attorney Pete Weeks told the jury that doctors had classified Lykens as the highest-level trauma patient at level one. Lykens was found to be blind in his right eye and suffered blurry and double vision in his right eye due to the attack. He also suffered orbital bone fractures that require "a significant amount of force to accomplish," Weeks said.
Javit took the stand during Oechsle's trial and said he was fortunate that his injuries weren't more severe.
"He just missed my eye," Javit said. "I have a few puncture wounds. I was really lucky."
Defense attorney Robert Donaldson, who defended Oechsle in the attempted homicide case, is Oechsle's defense counsel in his three remaining cases involving the Blair County Prison and is co-counsel, alongside attorney Thomas Dickey, for Oechsle's criminal homicide case.
When asked which cases might proceed to trial first, Donaldson said he was prepared to bring the prison cases, but the homicide case "was still snaking along" as they still needed to obtain expert reports and other documentation.
Kagarise previously declined a motion made by Weeks to combine Oechsle's three prison cases with his homicide case and deferred his decision in joining Oechsle's prison cases with one another.
The remaining prison cases include a 2025 case of alleged institutional vandalism and two 2024 cases alleging Oechsle procured a weapon for himself.
Oechsle was originally arrested in April 2023 after being found squatting in an Altoona apartment with the corpse of 38-year-old Christopher Helsel. Police documents state that Oechsle admitted to killing Helsel and living with his body for three days.
Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor-Musselman is at 814-946-7458.